NAWJ Monthly Update
- President's Message
- Early Bird Rates for NAWJ's 2020 Midyear Meeting Available Until December 31, 2019
- ABA Section of International Law Seeks Nominees for Mayre Rasmussen Award for the Advancement of Women, Deadline: December 6, 2019
- Photo Scenes from Los Angeles, NAWJ's 41st Anniversary Conference
- NAWJ Member Hon. Debra Stephens Selected Chief Justice of Washington State Supreme Court
- NAWJ New Jersey Continues Leadership in Outreach with Color of Justice with Support of Every Major Statewide Minority Bar Association
- PBS Airs Documentary Series "College Behind Bars"
- AmazonSmile Presents Ways to Support NAWJ this Holiday Season
- Upcoming Events
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Edited from remarks given by The Honorable Bernadette D'Souza on October 18, 2019 in Los Angeles, California at her swearing-in ceremony as President of NAWJ.
Dear Members,
Forty years ago, if you found your way off the roads that trace out of Bombay and into the villages of Goa, India. If you moved through the dusty streets and found a young girl, playing with her siblings outside a small yard in a small house and you told her that in four decades she would be standing here, on this stage, in front of so many strong, intelligent women that continually inspire her, she would not believe you.
But that is because life had not taught her the lessons that come with tragedy and triumph. That little girl didn’t know how much she would learn about helping support a family after the sudden death of her father. The attention to family and the sacrifice to make a better life for all of them.
She hadn’t yet taken a risk and moved to Tehran to spread her wings and explore and fall in love. She would not know that she would marry a brilliant physician, who encouraged her dreams and brought her to this amazing country of opportunity. She wouldn’t know about the three wonderful children that would support her endeavors as she decided to go to law school. The daughters that would make her breakfast when she had to prepare for class that morning. The son that would go to the library with her and do his homework so she would do hers. The husband that knew she wanted to help people and, through legal aid, she would be able to do that. The family that went on the campaign trail with her when she ran for Judge.
NAWJ has set a standard of excellence through our programs and we often lead the change to face timely issues head-on. We serve as a conduit between young women and minorities in all stages of life and the legal field through our Color of Justice Program. We acknowledge the struggle of legal professionals facing sexual harassment in the workplace and provide education and activism through #WeToo In the Legal Workplace. Our ongoing collaborations with Federal and State Courts fight to end human trafficking-modern day enslavement of women and vulnerable communities. My theme for this year is Innovation Efforts to Improve Access to Justice through Global Judicial Leadership . I look forward to bolstering these efforts through support and leadership and will dedicate my term to seeking our further opportunities to expand our work to a global scale.
Just as important is continuing to act, in our duties and in our communities, as a sign of hope and inspiration. Our core mission of equality in the courtroom, both off the bench and on, serves as an example to those generations to come. We have to stay active, use our collective voices, sometimes louder to carry above the political din, to set a path for future women to pursue a career in the legal profession and become leaders in the court. This country is a country of opportunity. It is our duty to help make it a country of equal opportunity.
NAWJ is unafraid to face new and unique threats to access to justice and address them as a collective. My sincere hope is that through our efforts we can benefit both our own jurisdictions and the larger global judiciary as a whole. I believe we are ready for this challenge, and I am eager to begin.
With warm regards and gratitude,
Hon. Bernadette D'Souza
Judge for the Parish of Orleans, Civil District Court, Louisiana
President of National Association of Women Judges
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Early Bird Rates for NAWJ's 2020 Midyear Meeting Available Until December 31, 2019
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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
ABA Section of International Law Mayre Rasmussen Award for the Advancement of Women in International Law
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The Section of International Law encourages nominations (and self-nominations) of women and men who have made significant contributions to advancing opportunities for women in international law. Do you know an extraordinary champion who should be nominated? To nominate someone, please submit the online form, which asks for a bio and brief explanation of how the nominee meets the award criteria. The deadline for nominations is Friday, December 6, 2019. To submit a nomination, visit this webpage for more information and use the online form.
Award Criteria: The Mayre Rasmussen Award for the Advancement of Women in International Law is presented to a person who has: (1) achieved professional excellence in international law, and, in addition, has done at least one of the following: (2) encouraged women to practice international law, (3) opened doors for women in international law settings from which they have historically been excluded, and/or (4) advanced opportunities for women in a particular field of international law. Individuals who are not members of the ABA Section of International Law are eligible for nomination, although preference is given to Section members. If an honoree is not already a Section member, the Section gives the honoree a complimentary one-year Section membership.
Last year's Mayre Rasmussen Award for the Advancement of Women in International Law recognized the contributions of longstanding NAWJ member Col. Linda Strite Murnane.
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Click the image below to view photo scenes from the Annual Conference in Los Angeles
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Hon. Debra Stephens Selected Chief Justice for the Washington State Supreme Court
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Justice Debra Stephens has been unanimously selected by her peers to serve as the 57th Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court. Justice Stephens, who currently serves as co-chair of NAWJ's Judicial Independence Committee, will be sworn into the position on January 6, 2020, and will serve the last year of fellow NAWJ member The Honorable Mary Fairhurst’s term as Chief Justice. Chief Justice Fairhurst recently announced that she will retire at the end of the year to focus on her health.
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NAWJ's New Jersey Chapter Continues Leadership with Tremendous Outreach of Color of Justice for its Youth
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(Photos: (left) post program celebration luncheon hosted by Hon. Sue Pai Yang at her home; (right) photos of program participants taken on the day of the program projected onto the wall in Judge Yang's home.)
Click here to view photo scenes from the program.
On Saturday, October 26, 2019, the New Jersey Chapter of NAWJ held another inspiring Color of Justice Program for young people in New Jersey. Chaired by the Hon. Siobhan A. Teare, J.S.C., the committee, composed of Hon. Mumtaz Bari-Brown, A.L.J. (Ret.); Hon. Avis Bishop-Thompson, J.S.C.; Barbara Comerford, Esq.; Elizabeth Davies, Esq.; Hon. Estela M. De La Cruz, J.S.C.; Hon. Rosemary Gambardella, U.S.B.J.; Hon. Michelle Hollar-Gregory, J.S.C. (Ret.); Hon. Helen E. Hoens, Assoc. Justice (Ret.); Hon. Vivian Sanks King, J.M.C.; Mamie M. Lau; Jeoyuh Lin, Esq.; Hon. Sandra Ann Robinson, A.L.J. (Ret.); Hon. Lourdes I. Santiago, J.S.C.; and Hon. L. Grace Spencer, J.S.C., worked diligently and joyfully for six months to plan the event which took place at Rutgers Law School in Newark.
Approximately 94 current and former students attended the Color of Justice Program. Attendees drew from the following education institutions: Essex County College Paralegal Studies; Fairleigh Dickinson University; Hackensack High School; Rutgers University New Brunswick; Rutgers University Newark; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM Academy); Teaneck High School; University High School; and Thurgood Marshall Academy.
A star-studded list for the Leaders in Law panel included Judge Rosemary Gambardella, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey; Paulette Brown, Esq., Former President of the American Bar Association; Honorable Julio Fuentes, United States Court of Appeals For the Third Circuit; Assignment Judge Bonnie Mizdol, Bergen County, New Jersey; Evelyn Padin, Esq., President, New Jersey State Bar Association; and Justice Anne Patterson, New Jersey Supreme Court. Click here to reach the event webpage for a full list of participants.
One of the chapter's most distinguishing accomplishments was found in obtaining support, in funds and in participation, from leaders of major minority statewide bars including but not limited to those representing Women, Black, Hispanic, and Asian communities. Thank you!
New Jersey Women Lawyers Association
The Law Offices of Barbara B. Comerford
New Jersey State Bar Foundation
Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey
Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey
Garden State Bar Association
Click here to view photo scenes from the program.
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PBS Begins Airing Documentary Series
"College Behind Bars"
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College Behind Bars , a four-part documentary film series directed by filmmaker Lynn Novick, and produced by Sarah Botstein and Ken Burns. It tells the story of a group of incarcerated men and women struggling to earn college degrees and turn their lives around through the Bard Prison Initiative, a prison education programs in the United States.
"Shot over four years in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State, the four-hour film takes viewers on a stark and intimate journey into one of the most pressing issues of our time – our failure to provide meaningful rehabilitation for the over two million Americans living behind bars. Through the personal stories of the students and their families, the film reveals the transformative power of higher education and puts a human face on America’s criminal justice crisis. "
All episodes are viewable online here .
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As you begin your holiday shopping, expand your purchase power to support for NAWJ through Amazon Smile.
AmazonSmile is Amazon’s philanthropic arm. It automatically donates an amount equal to 0.5% of your purchase price to your charity of choice. All you have to do is visit Smile.Amazon.com and type NAWJ in the box labeled Pick your own charitable organization .
You shop. Amazon gives.
Whenever you shop on Amazon, start on the AmazonSmile page. NAWJ will appear directly under the search box, so you know while you are shopping, and gift giving, your purchases also support NAWJ. Your account information, lists, and prime membership will all apply as usual.
Every time you shop on AmazonSmile , you are sharing your generosity with those who are special to you, and empowering NAWJ to provide cutting-edge judicial education and inspiring programs like the award-winning Color of Justice.
Please remember NAWJ during your holiday shopping and throughout the year by using AmazonSmile , and ask your friends and colleagues to do the same!
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2020
March 11-13, 2020
March 25, 2020
May 7-10, 2020
October 12-16, 2020
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