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A Judge's Tale--A Trailblazer Fights For Her Place on the Bench

Janet Kintner was a lawyer in California before no-fault divorce, where the parties had to prove the other party was to blame. This caused huge emotional suffering and bitterness that also impacted the children. It was before there was a law against domestic violence. Women were usually the victims. They were beaten up by their partner and the police wouldn’t get involved. They said it was their private business. By the time Kintner saw the case in court, the woman was usually dead. There was no law against stalking. Victims of stalking had their lives ruined, living in fear, sometimes losing their jobs, unable to have a normal life. But the police had to tell them there was nothing they could do until the stalker physically assaulted them. Victims of rape, almost always women, had special hurdles to overcome. There was a cautionary instruction saying the charge was easily made and hard to disprove. Victims had to undergo psychiatric exams that could be used in court. That made rape unlike all other crimes.

Kintner found the women in the local jail had no access to sunshine or contact visits like men did.

All the judges but one were men in San Diego. And they didn't all treat the women including the lawyers with the respect men got. The nicest restaurant for lunch near the courthouse was closed to women. There was lots of room for improvement. Fortunately since that time, we got more women lawyers and judges, and the law in California changed in big ways. We got no-fault divorce, we got laws against domestic violence and stalking. We made the law for rape trials more equitable for victims. The restaurant had to admit women.

Kintner was convinced that women's presence in law enforcement and the justice system made the system fairer for women.