Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle To Save America

Slate legal correspondent Lithwick (Me v. Everybody) details the extraordinary efforts of women lawyers who challenged the dismantling of human rights, civil rights, and women’s rights during the Trump presidency. This time heralded disheartening setbacks, including the seating of vocally anti-abortion justices on the Supreme Court and the reversal of Roe v. Wade. The author describes the efforts of an inspiring group women who fought back: Sally Yates, who refused to sign off on the Trump administration’s 2017 “Muslim ban”; Becca Heller, who brought the defense of immigration and refugee rights to U.S. airports; Brigit Amiri, who fought for abortion rights for immigrants in Texas; Roberta Kaplan, who sued neo-Nazis in Charlottesville; Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford, who called out sexual abuse and misconduct; Stacy Abrams, who worked to protect voting rights in Georgia and around the country; and Nina Peralis, who upended plans to coopt the 2020 census. Narrating her own book, Lithwick casts these women as unsung heroes of today, while warning that there still is much work to do to regain lost ground. Her reporting engagingly mixes interviews and legal commentary in an accessible way.