Leah Litman of the University of Michigan Law School, Melissa Murray of NYU School of Law, and Kate Shaw of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School have received the Arabella Babb Mansfield Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), the organization’s oldest and highest honor, in recognition of their influential scholarship and their contributions to public understanding of the U.S. Supreme Court through their widely acclaimed podcast Strict Scrutiny.
Since its debut in 2019—and its acquisition by Crooked Media in 2022—Strict Scrutiny has become a leading forum for accessible, engaging discussions of Supreme Court cases and the broader dynamics shaping constitutional law. In the NAWL award video, Shaw reflected on the enduring relevance of Arabella Mansfield’s legacy, contrasting Mansfield’s admission to the Iowa bar in 1869 with the Supreme Court’s 1873 Bradwell v. Illinois decision upholding that state’s exclusion of women from legal practice. “Progress and equality are not linear,” Shaw observed. “In moments when the Supreme Court sometimes fails us … states can sometimes fill the breach.”
Reflecting on the recognition, Shaw said, “It was pretty clear to us that the Court and the law were going to be undergoing some major changes, and we really wanted to add a different kind of voice and analysis to how people understood those changes.”