When Gov. Phi Murphy announced his intention to nominate Rachel Wainer Apter to succeed retiring Justice Jaynee LaVecchia on the New Jersey Supreme Court, much was made of her connection to former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for whom Wainer Apter once clerked.
Wainer Apter’s opening remarks Monday morning showed how a number of historical events have shaped her life. Here’s a look at a large portion of her address.
“My great grandparents fled anti-Semitic persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe and came to the United States in search of freedom,” she said. “As a child, I was tremendously impacted by learning about the Holocaust — I went through years of grade school reading only books about the Holocaust and had vivid dreams that I was living during that time.
“That gave me a strong sense of how fortunate I was to live in this time and place, but it also impressed upon me the horrors that can come from dehumanization, when one person deems another person as ‘other’ or denies their humanity.
“I therefore always knew I wanted to help people, and, in law school, I realized that meant civil rights law: the idea that all people are entitled to equal justice under the law, and to be treated with equal dignity and equal respect.
“We now think of this concept as an integral part of our federal Constitution, but at the time the Constitution was written in 1787, many people were left out of the ‘We the People of the United States’ referenced in the opening words. People brought to this country as slaves and all of their descendants. Native American peoples. Women.
“The past 234 years have largely been a struggle for those who were excluded at the time of the Constitution’s drafting, and who have been excluded in the many years since, for full and equitable inclusion in our national life.
“Today, I want to briefly discuss two values that I both admired about and shared with Justice Ginsburg. The first is a central belief in the equality and dignity of all people — that everyone should be able to dream, to achieve and to set the course of their own lives without barriers based on race, religion, nationality or ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability. The second is a belief in the importance of the law not simply as a subject to be debated, but as something that profoundly impacts the lives of individual people each day.”
“And I was very lucky after law school to clerk for three judges who played a part in that struggle: Judge Jed Rakoff, who just wrote a book about flaws in the justice system; Judge Robert Katzmann, who, while serving as a judge, founded a fellowship that trains lawyers to represent immigrants facing deportation or pursuing lawful status and citizenship; and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who, before she ever became a judge or a jhustice was largely responsible for convincing nine male Supreme Court justices to enshrine equal citizenship for women into the United States Constitution.
“Today, I want to briefly discuss two values that I both admired about and shared with Justice Ginsburg. The first is a central belief in the equality and dignity of all people — that everyone should be able to dream, to achieve and to set the course of their own lives without barriers based on race, religion, nationality or ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.
“The second is a belief in the importance of the law not simply as a subject to be debated, but as something that profoundly impacts the lives of individual people each day.
“I have never focused only on laws or systems — instead, I have always centered the individual lives that laws and systems are meant to serve, but can so often harm.”
“A large part of my professional career has focused on addressing systemic inequality. At the ACLU, I worked on major civil rights and constitutional cases to defend antidiscrimination laws, protect the right to vote and safeguard the constitutional rights of people accused of crimes. While counsel to the attorney general, I worked with stakeholders to draft the Immigrant Trust Directive, which curtails the involvement of New Jersey law enforcement officers in federal civil immigration enforcement. And, at the Division on Civil Rights, I have worked to broaden the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, combat sexual harassment and the rise in hate and bias, and tackle systemic racism.
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“But, I have never focused only on laws or systems — instead, I have always centered the individual lives that laws and systems are meant to serve, but can so often harm. For example, when I traveled to Texas to defend DACA on behalf of the state of New Jersey, I spoke not only about the legal intricacies of the case — but also about one individual DACA grantee who testified that, without DACA, her life would change in ways big and small: she would lose her job, but also be unable to do everyday things people take for granted, including drive, purchase cold medicine at a pharmacy and enter a public building.
“The New Jersey Supreme Court has a proud history of recognizing the equal dignity of every human being and acknowledging how the law impacts real people each day. Justice Ginsburg shared that legacy. I hope to be able to live up to that promise.”
