Judge Aleta Trauger Opened Doors for Women in Law

homesafetytechpros — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 17:14:22 +0000

Aleta A. Trauger earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor after convicting a former Tennessee governor during her stint at the U.S. attorney’s office. The 1981 case, which dealt with selling liquor licenses to political friends, gave her credibility in a male-dominated space.

“It really set me up as a woman who was tough and could do litigation,” said Judge Trauger, who serves in the Middle District of Tennessee.

Video of Judge Aleta Trauger Opened Doors for Women in Law

In recognition of Women’s History Month, a new video profile explores Trauger’s unlikely journey from a literary scholar to a trailblazer for women’s advancement in the law.

“My mother was a legal secretary my whole life, but I never thought of being a lawyer,” Trauger said. “It just never occurred to me. And so, I became a teacher.”

After several years of teaching, Trauger enrolled at Vanderbilt University Law School in 1973, when women made up an increasing, yet small percentage of law school admissions.

“I entered law school really on a lark … I’d done better on the LSAT than I thought I would do, but I didn’t know that I could do it,” Trauger said.

She recounted how female students shared a single restroom at the law school building. In protest, Trauger and other female students commandeered one of the larger and more centrally located men’s restrooms until the administration yielded and designated it as an additional women’s restroom.

Passionate about opening doors for future generations of women, Trauger helped form the Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women as a tool to help connect women lawyers and equip them with the knowledge of how to become a judge.

“I’ve been on the district court bench 25 years, and I remember in the early days, I would just be so thrilled when, if by chance in a lawsuit, I had women on both sides of the case because it was kind of unusual,” Trauger said. “And now of course, it’s just commonplace and it’s very gratifying. And I think it’s important that we tell our stories, however, and not take it all for granted.”

Before becoming the first female district judge in the Middle District of Tennessee in 1998, Trauger served as a U.S. bankruptcy judge and an assistant U.S. attorney in the district.

Learn about women judges in the federal Judiciary and other Women’s History Month resources.

Related Topics: Judicial History

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State Bar of Wisconsin’s diversity clerkship program ‘discriminates behind closed doors,’ suit says

homesafetytechpros — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 01:18:45 +0000

Bar Associations

State Bar of Wisconsin’s diversity clerkship program ‘discriminates behind closed doors,’ suit says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 21, 2023, 11:18 am CST

The State Bar of Wisconsin is facing a lawsuit claiming that its diversity clerkship program for law students is violating the First Amendment rights of a lawyer who pays mandatory dues. Image from Shutterstock.

The State Bar of Wisconsin is facing a lawsuit claiming that its diversity clerkship program for law students is violating the First Amendment rights of a lawyer who pays mandatory dues.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed the suit Tuesday on behalf of lawyer Daniel Suhr, report Reuters, Above the Law, Law360, Courthouse News Service and a press release.

The suit describes the program as offering “a special path to coveted career opportunities at top Wisconsin employers.” Eligibility requirements and selection discriminate among students based on race, according to the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Suhr contends that the program violates his First Amendment right to free speech under Keller v. State Bar of California. The 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision held that compulsory state bars can use lawyer mandatory dues to fund activities to regulate the legal profession and improve the quality of legal services but not for unrelated political or ideological activities.

Suhr also says the bar is violating his First Amendment right to freedom of association by forcing him to be a member of an association engaged in unconstitutional activity.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of lawyer Daniel Suhr. Photo from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty’s press release.

The suit cites the Supreme Court’s June decision striking down race-conscious college admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The programs violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Supreme Court held in the cases known as Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

“Affirmative action for student internships is just as unconstitutional as affirmative action for student admissions,” Suhr’s suit says.

The State Bar of Wisconsin does allow reduced dues for attorneys who object to political or ideological activities, but the diversity program is not categorized as such an activity for the dues reduction, according to the suit.

The State Bar of Wisconsin website says the diversity fellowship is open to first-year students at Wisconsin’s two law schools who demonstrate a “commitment to diversity” and a record of academic achievement, Reuters reports.

Suhr’s suit says the bar changed the language describing the diversity program after the Students for Fair Admissions decision. But the program still discriminates, according to the suit.

“Even if the program appears technically neutral on its face, its operation, results and rhetoric make clear that it discriminates behind closed doors, which is just as illegal,” the suit says.

Larry Martin, executive director of the State Bar of Wisconsin, said in a statement provided to Reuters and Law360 the bar will “”vigorously defend” the diversity program.

“Neither race nor ethnicity is an eligibility factor or requirement for purposes of participation,” Martin said.

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Judge Aleta Trauger Opened Doors for Women in Law

State Bar of Wisconsin’s diversity clerkship program ‘discriminates behind closed doors,’ suit says

State Bar of Wisconsin’s diversity clerkship program ‘discriminates behind closed doors,’ suit says