Attorney Alexandra Leichter on Chief Justice Rose Bird.

Format:

Video

Series:

Academic Video Online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women judges.

Capital punishment.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (5 minutes)

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] : Look What SHE Did!, 2022.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

video file

Summary:

Rose Bird was the first woman ever to serve on the California Supreme Court...and she was vilified for it. Bird attended Berkeley Law School where she was only one of eight women among two hundred men. When new Governor Jerry Brown appointed her as the Secretary of Agriculture, Bird became the first female cabinet member in California. During her term, Bird was a compassionate advocate for farmworkers; she heard their health and safety issues and chose to fight for them. And when a vacancy opened up on the Supreme Court, Jerry Brown appointed Bird the Chief Justice of California. She was opposed by Conservatives for her opposition to the death penalty, but refused to sacrifice her morals for public approval, even when it ultimately cost her the seat. As her friend Alexandra Leichter recalls, "She was true to who she was... and people didn't like it. Too bad." Our storytellers share these astonishing women with us conversationally and unscripted; we fact-check afterwards and note any major discrepancies for accuracy.

Notes:

Title from resource description page (viewed April 15, 2024).

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI.