Why a Woman Justice will Make a Difference

President Reagan nominated the first woman to the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor, and a great hue and cry went up. , Not about whether a woman’s place is on the Supreme Cou~–Or wJletber O’Connor was quahf1ed. Or who was going to take care of 1 her clllldreo (never mind that her three sons are all taller than she – that question has been put to other women with grown children). The storm centered around one issue: her stand on abortion. Could it be that the sex of the new nominee makes no difference any more? A recent New York Times-CBS News poll suggests so. Seventy-two percent of those asked said it made no difference to them whether a man or a woman was appointed to the Supreme Court.

I take that to mean that per• haps a large percentage of the public is open-minded enough to think that a woman can do what has been considered a man’s job for 191 years. Or that maybe people simply think it’s no ‘?nger autom~tic that women in high .places will ,ote the party line on so-called women’s issues. On the one band. it’s heartening the public has come so far in its acceptance of female leadership.

On the other hand, I believe there are some very real ways in which a female justice will make a difference. I believe her presence alone may change the way women perceive themselves as well as the way the public perceives ~omen’s leadership abilities. It will s~ow other women in the law – and little girls thinking about the law – that the door to the top is not closed. Whether or not