Remembering Justice Sandra Schultz Newman

Our dear friend Christine Flowers has written a beautiful reminiscence of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman who has passed away. We are honored to be quoted in this loving tribute, reprinted with Christine's permission:

As a female in the legal profession, I have often encountered women my own age-64-and even younger, who have this sense of having “accomplished things against all odds.” There is that sort of woman who believes that our gender, even in this day and age, has shackled us, slowed us down, and made any of our eventual accomplishments that much more meaningful.

As Oliver Wendell Holmes would say, I dissent. Respectfully, of course.

For the women of my generation, which is very late Boomer through Gen X, there may have still been a few speed bumps along the highway of professional success. I encountered a bit of passive aggressive sexism, and as the daughter of a legendary Philadelphia lawyer who straddled the legal landscape of the 1970s like a Colossus, I learned how to navigate the setbacks with a smile and, when necessary, a kick in the shins.

I was not a victim, nor were most of the women I meet who might think that they were. And please spare me the “I had to balance my life as a mother with my desire to achieve excellence” mantra. One of my classmates in high school was just appointed to the bench in Montgomery County and she has four beautiful daughters. So kudos to the Honorable Mary Pugh, nee Mary Theresa Coyne, Merion Mercy Class of 1979.

My actual purpose in writing this is to highlight the career and accomplishments of a woman who, like those of her generation, really did have to battle the evils of sexism, and in some cases, racism and bigotry. These were the trailblazers of the bar, women on the national stage with names like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sandra Day O’Connor, and locally like a woman who passed this week, and who will forever be considered a legend in Pennsylvania; The Honorable Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, first woman to be elected to the highest court in the Commonwealth.

Justice Newman, or “Sandy” as her friends called her, was one of those people who would have succeeded in whatever field she chose, and she chose the law. Blessed with a Dresden doll beauty, delicate features and pale skin, she could have been a model or a movie star had she wanted to be. A character that flamboyant would have fit right in with that sort of zeitgeist.

But she had a mind, and that mind was not destined for movie scripts or being told to “strike a pose.” She graduated from my alma mater, Villanova Law School, and had the great fortune to study under Professor Howard Lurie, a man who was also my professor a decade later, and who to this day represents for me all that is great and glorious about the rule of law.

She was the first female Assistant District Attorney in Montgomery County, and her career trajectory soared from that point. In 1993, she was elected to the Commonwealth Court, an intermediate appellate court and then in 1995 was the first female in the history of the Pennsylvania judiciary elected to the Supreme Court. Imagine that, it took two centuries, or thereabouts, before they let us on the high court. Justice Newman was a pragmatic, but perceptive justice. She was extremely fair, and even though she was a registered Republican, you would really not know it. Here decisions didn’t come with a partisan time stamp, or fingerprint. She was exactly what a judge should be: neutral.

And this extended to her personal relationships. One of her closest friends was Donna Gentile O’Donnell, a lifelong Democrat of the old Kennedy mold, as fair and as feisty as the justice. They occupied different political hemispheres, but were deeply devoted to each other, up to the final moments. And to my own particular dismay, because I disagreed profoundly with his position on abortion, Justice Newman was a strong supporter of Justice Kevin Dougherty during his retention race this past November. While I was furiously opposing his retention on social media, she was doing everything possible to help him keep his seat, and believe me, her influence dwarfed my keyboard efforts. He was, as we all know, retained.

But I think that this is the hallmark of the woman who left us this week: a person who followed her own personal North Star.

She rarely complained about how hard it had been, because in some ways it hadn’t been. She had that immense spirit and was such a force of nature that I think she simply broke down the barriers by sheer will. It didn’t hurt to have her husband, the legendary Dr. Julius Newman at her side for most of the journey.

I wrote on Facebook that when he passed, she honored his legacy, cherished as it was like a Faberge Egg, precious in memory.

She had also suffered the loss of a son a short while before she herself fell ill, and found comfort in her other son Jonathan, who was the iconic Chairman of the Liquor Control Board and ushered in the “Chairman’s Selection” section.

I was not a close friend of Justice Newman, although we communicated on Facebook and despite her offers to call her “Sandy,” was forever for me, “Madame Justice.”

I write this because her life deserves to be remember far beyond the legal community, which will of course remember her.

I write this because Justice Newman was a person who lived her life fully, and well, and she was an example of how to confront obstacles with joy and a fierce but effective femininity. That word has become unpopular in these post-feminist days, but this was a legal lioness who was not afraid to show her inimitable style.

My friend Dan Cirucci, who knew her well, summed it up the best, I think:

“I was so proud to know her. I loved her. I loved that was so genuine and unaffected by title or status. She delighted in all the people she knew and was so generous and kind. There was a wonderful joy de vivre about her. I’m glad I got to see her one last time and spend some time with her when the Supreme Court’s courtroom in Philadelphia was named in her honor. It was such a wonderful day. She was old school and part of a generation that is passing on and I will miss her just as I miss all of these wonderful trailblazing woman who paved away for so many others– – others who often don’t even realize it, and sadly might not be so grateful even if they did realize it.”

She carried the weight for many women, and did it with grace.

As she now lays it down, let her memory be for a blessing.