BARRED FROM THE BAR

Garza (African Americans and Jewish Americans, 1995, etc.) presents a thorough and well-researched history of pioneering women lawyers and their struggle for the right to practice law, in this entry in the Women Then—Women Now series. The book opens by recounting how, in 1873, Myra Bradwell's application for a lawyer's license in Illinois was turned down. Her case was appealed to the US Supreme Court and turned down again, on the basis that women should be only wives and mothers. In 1951, when future Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor graduated from Stanford third in her class, she could not find a job as a lawyer. More recently, Robert Shapiro's comment about opposing counsel Marcia Clark in the Simpson trial was, reportedly, ``Great legs!'' Garza makes clear that African-American and Hispanic women have had to overcome even greater hurdles in the legal profession; this discussion sometimes diffuses the focus of the book. Throughout, a moderate tone lends credibility to Garza's thesis: Despite great adversity and ridicule, women are succeeding in their fight to overcome the roadblocks in the legal profession. Garza's book is hopeful and inspirational, certain to lead some YAs to consider a future in law. (b&w photos, notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 14+)