May 2025 President's Letter

Greetings Sisters in the Law and Allies:

I hope this message finds each of you well.  For me, I am still experiencing the glow over of being in the company of extraordinary jurists in the last month in a half - from an engaging midyear conference in Ann Arbor to the extraordinary IAWJ biennial conference in Cape Town.  For those members who have not experienced an IAWJ conference, I highly recommend it.  If you are able, make it a goal to attend one.  It is invigorating!  As it turns out, the next biennial conference, in 2027, will be held in Quebec, Canada.  My hope is that NAWJ will have an extraordinary contingency in attendance. 

As I write this message, I reflect on the theme of midyear: In justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  Penned by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in his April 16,1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, those words resonate today.  I have asked myself, how did we get to a place where promoting the rule of law and the concept of justice for all became points of contention?  How is it even debatable to say that attacks on the judiciary and the rule of law are wrong?  I have no answers here, but I find a renewed sense of commitment from those upon whose shoulders we stand.  I'd like to highlight one such heroine - Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was one of NAWJ'S earliest members.  While reviewing her extensive public comments (housed at the library.oconnorinstitute.org), I stumbled upon a transcript of her acceptance speech of the NAWJ Lifetime Achievement Award in March 2006.  After thanking NAWJ President Vanessa Ruiz (who later became IAWJ President) for the recognition, Justice O'Connor recalled NAWJ's inception, "when Joan Dempsey...then a judge in California decided to get this organization going.  And I promptly joined, not having any idea at the time that it [NAWJ] would grow as it has, perhaps it would not have done so had not President Ronald Reagan decided, I thought rather courageously to put a woman on the Supreme Court." 

Justice O'Connor was unequivocally committed to the rule of law, judicial independence, and justice for all.  Following her retirement from the high court in January 2006, Justice O'Connor became a fearless advocate for the judiciary.  In the fall of 2006, she penned an op ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled "The Threat to Judicial Independence".  There she discussed an effort by a national organization.  It had promoted a constitutional amendment to the South Dakotan constitution which, if passed, would purportedly eliminate judicial immunity and enable grand juries to convene to censure judges for their legal decisions.  She referred to the effort as "venomous".  The following day, Justice O'Connor spoke at Georgetown Law School about the critical role of the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the history of the US Justice System.  In 2008, Justice O'Connor penned a law review article in the Denver University Law Review.  The title was "Judicial Accountability Must Safeguard, Not Threaten, Judicial Independence: An Introduction".  In it, Justice O'Connor wrote that the term 'judicial accountability' had become a "rallying cry for those who want in reality to dictate substantive judicial outcomes" and that "this perversion of the concept of judicial accountability threatens to undermine the safeguards of democracy and liberty that were so brilliantly conceived by those who first designed our governmental institutions and drafted our Constitution."  She boldly continued "Judicial independence is the vital mechanism that empowers judges to make decisions that may be unpopular but nonetheless correct. In so doing, the judiciary vindicates the principle that no person or group, however powerful, is above the law. And it gives life to the promise that the Rule of Law safeguards the minority from the tyranny of the majority."  

I could continue to cite even more examples of Justice O'Connor's passion, but I will leave it to you to see for yourself at the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute for American Democracy website, referenced above. As for me, I draw inspiration from her unwavering support of the judiciary, her unabashed endorsement of the rule of law, and her fearless commentary on the importance of judicial independence.  I hope you find some inspiration, too.

Best, Michelle

The Honorable Michelle M. Rick
President, National Association of Women Judges
President@nawj.org