A courtroom of her own

A Courtroom of Her Own: The Life and Work of Judge Mary Anne Richey recounts the story of a remarkable twentieth-century woman who defied gendered stereotypes throughout her personal and professional life. Richey was a member of the Women Air Service Patrol during World War II, the only woman in her graduating class in law school at the University of Arizona in 1951, a successful prosecutor for a decade after graduation, and a state court trial judge for 12 years.

A Courtroom of Her Own is more than just a biography of a contemporary path-breaker in law. Atwood's book is a challenge to the theories of cultural feminists that women judges will bring inherently "female" values or predictably "feminine" perspectives to the law. Through her exploration of the life and work of Mary Anne Richey, Atwood shows the complexity and uniqueness of Richey's gender identity as well as her judicial identity.

The milestones of her judicial career ranged from ground-breaking civil liberties decisions to "law and order" rulings in criminal cases that met with reversal on appeal. As the book reveals, categorical assumptions about women judges don't fit the reality of Richey's multi-faceted performance on the bench.