Please join us for the Eighth Annual Women and the Law Conference as we explore Women in Politics and The Role of Gender in Political Decision Making.
Women have made enormous strides in the political arena and are enjoying a presence that is unparalleled in the United States. Women are being elected to state and local governments in numbers greater than ever. A record number of women now serve in the 110th Congress: 74 in the House of Representatives and 16 in the Senate. California voters have played a critical role in this progress by electing two female senators and the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
2008 promises to be another exciting political year with the first candidacy of a woman for the office of President of the United States. Women are still a long way, however, from the day in which the ultimate glass ceiling will be easily shattered and a candidate’s gender will be considered truly irrelevant in an election.
Women and the Law Conference Overview:
This year's Women and the Law Conference brings together an inspirational panel of female politicians and political scientists to examine the role of gender in U.S. politics. The conference speakers will explore a number of topics, including: the intersection of race, class and gender in elections; the role of gender in campaign messages; gender voting patterns; partisan differences in the nomination of women to office, female congressional candidates; and male/female judicial voting patterns.
Read the Biographies of Panelists
Program:
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Women as Leaders
- Moderator: Lorena Gonzalez, Secretary-Treasurer, San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council
- Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine, Intersections of Inequality: Race, Class and Gender in Politics
- Carol C. Lam, Senior Vice-President, Legal Counsel, QUALCOMM Inc., Building Credibility: What Does It Take?
- Sharon Majors-Lewis, Judicial Appointments Secretary to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Ronnee Schreiber, Assistant Professor, San Diego State University, Exploring Ideological Differences: Conservative Women Political Leaders
10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Getting Elected and Staying In Office: Special Challenges Faced By Women (Part I)
- Moderator: Susan Taylor, NBC 7/39 Anchor
- Barbara Burrell, Professor, Northern Illinois University, Female Congressional Candidates in Open Seat Primaries and General
- Donna Frye, San Diego City Councilwoman and former mayoral candidate, Special Challenges Facing Female Politicians
- Midge Costanza, Former Assistant to President Jimmy Carter, Is the United States Ready For a Woman President? Obstacles Women Candidates Face in a Presidential Race
- Lynn Schenk, Former Congresswoman, Is the United States Ready For a Woman President? Obstacles Women Candidates Face in a Presidential Race
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lecture
Barbara Palmer, Assistant Professor, American University,
Breaking the Political Glass Ceiling: Incumbency, Redistricting, and the Success of Women Candidates
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Getting Elected and Staying in Office: Special Challenges Faced By Women (Part II)
- Moderator: Gloria Penner, KPBS
- Bonnie Dumanis, San Diego District Attorney, Tackling Gender Issues During a Campaign
- Christine Kehoe, California State Senator, Women in Leadership Roles: Why Aren’t There More of Us?
- Valerie O’Regan, Assistant Professor, Cal State Fullerton, Partisan Differences in the Nomination of Women to Office
- Stephen Stambough, Associate Professor, Cal State Fullerton, Partisan Differences in the Nomination of Women to Office
3:45 - 5:15 p.m.
Assessing the Impact (If Any) of Gender on Decision - Making in Law and Politics
- Moderator: Norma Damashek, President, San Diego League of Women Voters
- Dede Alpert, Former California State Senator, Having Women in Elective Office: Does It Make a Difference?
- Karen P. Hewitt, United States Attorney, Women and Leadership: The Role of Federal Prosecutors in the Legal Community
- Madhavi McCall, Associate Professor, San Diego State University, Structuring Gender’s Impact: Judicial Voting Across Criminal
- Melinda Mueller, Professor, Eastern Illinois University, Gender Differences in the 2006 House Elections: The Effect of Gender and Rhetoric on the War in Iraq
5:15 - 6:15 p.m.
Reception
Read the Biographies of Panelists
Minimum Continuing Legal Education Credit (MCLE):
MCLE credit is available upon request. Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider. This program qualifies for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of California in the five (5) hours of which one (1) hour will apply to Elimination of Bias.