Book Review: "Lady Justice" by Dahlia Lithwick

 

*Spoilers ahead!*

4.5/5 stars

"The enduring lesson of the Trump years and beyond is that the law is a fragile arrangement of norms, suggestions, and rules. It is not, we learned, self-enforcing."

Legal journalist Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate, and host of the Amicus podcast, has authored an outstanding book looking at women from all corners of the law uniting during the Trump administration to fight injustices of all kinds. 

This is one of those books you need to fight back a sense of demotivating despair and nihilism when it feels like the world has become unhinged and chaotic. Especially after the Dobbs decision, which eviscerated whatever was left of Roe and handed it to the states to make their own decisions on how to regulate women's bodies. (I'll admit I felt extremely discouraged.)

To my great shame, the only woman profiled in the book that I had previously heard about was Sally Yates, the interim Attorney General between the Obama and Trump administrations. She made headlines when she refused to defend the Muslim travel ban, one of the earliest of Trump administration policies that I remember from 2016. 

I remember how big of a deal it was for government's leading law enforcement official coming out and proclaiming loudly that this policy was racist and unconstitutional. I remember seeing on the news the utter chaos unleashed at airports, not only the enormous protests outside, but people who have legal status in the U.S. being held up or deported to countries they never knew. It was horrible, and one of many horrible things 2016-2020 showed us. 

Sally Yates is just one woman out of many legal professionals Lithwick highlights. Lithwick also tells the stories of Stacy Abrams, Becca Heller (who also fought the travel ban), Roberta Kaplan, and Anita Hill. 

Each woman looked around and realized that no one was coming to save us and stepped in to prevent the destruction of an (admittedly imperfect) legal system that protects the rights of marginalized people, like women, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color. We travel back in time, pre-pandemic, to the Women's March, the Supreme Court fights, and #MeToo. (In pandemic time, it feels like a decade ago.)

All of these incredibly intelligent legal minds recognize the inherent injustice in our legal system, but don't see another way to protect the most vulnerable of citizens, let alone all of us, without these institutions. 

So, they're all seeking to make it better, and to borrow a cliche, do their part to bend the arc of the universe further towards justice, whether it's fighting voter discrimination and disenfranchisement or protecting the legal rights of migrants or ensuring women have reproductive autonomy.

I won't go into too many details of each woman's story (because I don't want to ruin that journey for those who want to read this with spoilers). I will just say that I believe that whether or not you're a legal professional, Lady Justice gives a well-deserved spotlight to those whose work goes unnoticed, and yet is foundational to the maintenance of democracy, which I have to say, is better than an autocracy or totalitarian system by far. 

"Throughout the Trump years, women who were asking themselves, 'What can I do?' learned that whether we notice it or not, the law organizes every part of our lives. Lashing ourselves to legal ideas, movements, and causes gave us power. It organized us. It focused us. It connected us to first principles and lofty ideas. And every step of the way, the wins felt tangible and material and enduring. Women have come so far in a few decades, and the law, even with its flaws and its anachronisms, has been a quiet, persistent source of order and meaning in a world that feels ever more out of our control. It's been a source of power beyond just rage. We have a long way to go, the road will be bumpy, and the destination still feels less than clear."

Lady Justice is not, as some have said, a "pink book" about the law, but a book for all Americans who love their country and want to help make it better. It may not inspire you to get a law degree, but it'll definitely give you some needed hope and encouragement to fight for justice in whatever ways you can. 

After all, it's not just a legal fight, but a cultural fight as well, and everyone has a part to play. 

Happy reading!

--BookOwl