National Association of Women Judges is an American professional organization founded in 1979. It is a gathering of women judges who are dedicated to preserving judicial independence to women, minorities and other historically disfavored groups while increasing the number and advancement of women judges, and providing judicial education.
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Founding
Law professor Beverly Blair Cook developed the idea with two justices on the California Courts of Appeal, Vaino Spencer and Joan Dempsey Klein. Cook gave the keynote address at the first annual meeting in 1979, in Los Angeles.
Among the first resolutions of the membership of the NAWJ, at their founding event in 1979, were a call to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and an expression of support for the nomination of a woman judge to the Supreme Court.
Activities
The Association publishes statistics and policy reports on gender and the judiciary, holds annual meetings, and offers scholarships for law students, and awards for outstanding career judges. With the National Organization of Women they created the National Judicial Education Project, to raise awareness of gender issues in courts, including such topics as domestic violence and sexual harassment.
The National Association of Women Judges marked its tenth anniversary in 1989 by holding a conference of fifty international women judges, which led to the founding of the International Association of Women Judges.