Is politics destroying the criminal justice system? What's the true nature of
sexual harassment in the workplace? What is the future of feminism? Why can
single-sex education be a good thing?
To learn the answers to questions like these, one need only look through some
of the prolific writing of Susan Estrich -- politician, professor, lawyer and
writer. Whether on the pages of newspapers such as The New York Times, the Los
Angeles Times and The Washington Post or as a television commentator on
countless news programs on CNN, Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS and NBC, she has tackled
legal matters, women's concerns, national politics and social issues with the
same high level of intelligent analysis and insight.
A best-selling author, Estrich's recent works include: "Who Needs Feminism,
Sex and Power?" (2000), "Getting Away With Murder: How Politics is Destroying
the Criminal Justice System" (1998) and "Making the Case for Yourself: A Diet
Book for Smart Women."
Estrich is the Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science at the
University of Southern California Law Center. She serves on the Board of
Editorial Contributors for USA Today, as a presidential appointee on U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Council and as a mayoral appointee on the City of Los Angeles
Ethics Committee.
Estrich first gained national prominence as national campaign manager for
Dukakis for President in 1988, but she has been at the forefront of the academic
and intellectual debate for decades. After graduating as a Phi Beta Kappa
scholar with highest honors from Wellesley College in 1974, Estrich went on to
attend Harvard Law School. She was selected president of the Harvard Law Review
and received her JD magna cum laude in 1977.
After serving as a law clerk for Judge J. Skelly Wright on the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia and Justice John Paul Stevens on the
Supreme Court, Estrich had her first taste of politics as Deputy National Issues
Director with the Kennedy for President campaign in 1979.
In 1981, Estrich began teaching at Harvard Law School, and by 1986, she had
received tenure. Her professorial duties did not limit her involvement in
political campaigning, however, as she was named executive director for the
Democratic National Platform Committee in 1984 and worked as a senior policy
adviser to the Mondale-Ferraro presidential campaign.
Estrich also performed some private legal practice, serving as a counsel for
the firm of Tuttle & Taylor in Los Angeles from 1986 to 1987. The call of
national politics was too strong for her to stay out of the fray for long,
however, leading her to accept the job with the Dukakis campaign in October of
1987.
Susan Estrich lives in Los Angeles.
