"I sometimes worry today that the voices of those who are on the front lines fighting the battles - making sure that equal justice under the law is not just a slogan but a reality - are not as loud as they should be, not as vigorous in standing up to power as they need to be," said Clinton.

The New York senator was honored and served as the keynote speaker at an awards ceremony held by the commission.

When the ABA created the group in 1987, Clinton - who graduated from Yale Law School in 1973 - was asked to be its first chairwoman and helped produce a report on the obstacles that women faced in the legal profession.

She said the commission discovered widespread "blatant" and "attitudinal" discrimination.

"We were, I think it's fair to say, shocked by what we heard," Clinton said. "It was an overwhelming challenge."

The ABA is holding its annual convention in Chicago, and about 1,400 people listened to the speech given by Clinton, a native of the nearby suburb of Park Ridge.

"There are very different and even opposing views about what our Constitution means in today's world, what legal structures are best suited for us to continue to offer opportunity and provide fairness and a level playing field. And your voices are absolutely essential in the debates we are having," she said.

Other honorees included Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Ann McMorrow; Loretta Collins Argrett, the first black woman to hold the title of Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division; Carolyn Dineen King, chief judge of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Mary Cranston, who was one of the first women to head a major law firm; and Judith L. Lichtman, former president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, whose work is widely credited with helping win passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act.

© 2005 Associated Press.

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