[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     TRIBUTE TO WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SHIRLEY ABRAHAMSON

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 2019

  Ms. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the career and 
ongoing legacy of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson, 
the first woman and longest serving justice on our state's highest 
court. Born and raised in New York City, Justice Abrahamson often says, 
``At first I intended to be a teacher, but somewhere around 5 or 6 
years old, I decided to be a lawyer, and when I really looked back to 
before wanting to be a teacher, I was going to be President of the 
United States, and don't count me out yet.''
  Her path to the potential presidency led her to the Indiana Law 
School in 1953 after graduating magna cum laude from New York 
University. Justice Abrahamson was one of the only two women enrolled 
during a time when there were not a lot of women in the law practice. 
While attending, her fellow classmates stood in awe of her performance 
and ability to recite cases and make arguments. According to her it was 
often the gossip amongst the students that whoever finished top in the 
class would automatically get an offer from large leading Indianapolis 
law firms, but the Dean thought that they wouldn't hire a woman.
  Despite that belief, she persisted, graduating with high distinction 
from the Indiana School of Law, she was then hired and quickly promoted 
to partner at a law firm in Madison, Wisconsin. As she continued her 
private practice, Justice Abrahamson served as a professor at the 
University of Wisconsin Law School. Her career would be redirected in 
1976 when she was appointed to be an Associate Justice on the Wisconsin 
Supreme Court. Justice Abrahamson would be repeatedly elected to 10-
year terms on the bench with clear majorities each time and would be 
later sworn in as Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1996.
  When she joined the court, she was given a voice--a voice that she 
was never reluctant to use. At times when our state and court's 
fundamental values were continuously challenged, she expressed her 
views off the bench when necessary. She is an unshakable defender of 
progressive values, a protector of victims and a voice who fought 
against the special interests, and corporate wrong-doing. She is a 
judicial heavyweight, one of the most respected justices in United 
States history, and a trailblazer for women everywhere.
  Justice Abrahamson often says that her accomplishments are due to the 
generations of women who blazed that trail so that she can walk on it. 
However, Madam Speaker, in a time when very few women were in the law 
practice, she took that risk, picked up the mantle and continued to 
pave the way so women like myself, in this Congress and across the 
nation could walk on it. As Justice Abrahamson heads to retirement, her 
absence will leave a void in our state, but the legacy she leaves 
behind will inspire generations to come.
  Madam Speaker, Justice Shirley Abrahamson has helped change the 
course of American History for the better, and I applaud her for 
everything she has contributed to the state of Wisconsin and our 
nation.

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