women

Published on: September 7, 2021

Afghanistan: What I Worry About

By: Carolyn J. Woodruff, JD, CPA, CVA, Domestic Violence Activist

Greetings Ask Carolyn readers, as we prepare for Domestic Violence Awareness next month, I write to express concern for violence against women and children remaining in Afghanistan. I have researched the topic, and I share my references at the end of this blog. So many of the themes of domestic violence are recurrent: poverty, education, and the effect of prolonged conflict on children. Continue reading

Published on: March 30, 2021

Women’s History Month 2021: A Celebration

By: Carolyn J. Woodruff, JD, CPA, CVA

by Woodruff Family Law Group

When it comes to recognizing and remembering iconic women who have served in the Judicial branch, three names come to mind.

NC Supreme Court Justice Susie Marshall Sharp
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
And of course, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

This year in honor of Women’s History Month, Woodruff Family Law Group published three blogs on these trail blazing Justices whose work was transformative in North Carolina and in the nation. Continue reading

Published on: March 15, 2021

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Collar Commentary

By: Hannah E. Smith, JD

by Woodruff Family Law Group

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late iconic Supreme Court Justice, took the nation’s highest court’s dress from drab to fab with her unique collection of collars. “The standard robe is made for a man because it has a place for the shirt to show, and the tie,” Ginsburg told the Washington Post in 2009. As a result, she and Sandra Day O’Connor, as the first and second women to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, thought it would be befitting to jazz up the robe in a womanly fashion. Ginsburg, who was 87 when she died on September 18, 2020, became known for subtly encoding meaning in the collars she chose to wear on any given occasion. Her collection began with an original lace jabot, which she frequently wore while on the bench from 1993 to 2008. However, over the years, her law clerks, colleagues, and other admirers helped her grow her collection with an impressive array of exquisite collars. Time Magazine was granted access to some of the late Justice’s favorite collars for a still-life series, which can be viewed here. A few of her most popular collars are described in detail below. Continue reading

Published on: January 12, 2021

Does One Vote Matter?

Ideas: On the 19th Amendment: My Vote, My Equality

by Woodruff Family Law Group

Part I of III: Background

Individual letters have moved history and votes. Before tweeting and social media, penned (or penciled) letters were an excellent persuasive tool. This blog is in three parts: Part I deals with Suffrage and background on the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Part II considers a letter that moved Congress into action by moving a President of the United States. Part III deals with a penciled letter of a Mother to a Son, and that one letter sealed the deal on the 19^th Amendment granting finally women the right to vote. Continue reading