Highest Court in the Land

Reason #89219 why I love going to law school in Washington, DC: When you get sworn into the law fraternity, Phi Alpha Delta, you get a full on ceremony.

I don't know how they do it at other law schools, but nothing can beat being sworn into a law fraternity inside the halls of a Supreme Court by a Supreme Court Justice. Today hundreds of law students from the DC area (and even as far as Baltimore) came to the Supreme Court today in their suits. Even though I turned into a popsicle, standing outside the Supreme Court in some 40 degree weather in a skirt suit and waiting for 300 people to get through security, it was well worth it.

I've entered the grand marble hallways of the Supreme Court before, but this was my first as a law student. It means so much more now. As we were walking through the corridors, we pointed to the portraits of famous Justices, whose opinions we read every day. And the best part of all is seeing up close, another Justice whose opinion I just read yesterday.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg administered the PAD oath and all I must say is that she's awesome. Although my infamous book report from 3rd grade was about Justice O'Connor, Ginsburg is another female pioneer in the law field. It's so great to know that this really small and cute older woman goes head to head against much bigger male collegues. And even though the legal field is still dominated by men, as evidenced by the fact that she's outnumbered 8-1, I hope the Justice Ginsburg was happy to see that out of the hundreds of people she swore in today, probably over half were women. Who knows if one of the people I was standing around will be aruging infront of the Supreme Court one day or even sitting on that bench.