Bradwell v. State, 83 U.S. 130 (1872)

Myra Bradwell petitioned to be admitted to the bar and to be allowed to practice law, but was denied by the Supreme Court of Illinois, see: In re Bradwell, 55 Ill. 535 (1870). Bradwell appealed, and the United States Supreme Court upheld this decision, noting that a woman’s freedom to pursue the occupation of a lawyer was not a “privilege and immunity” of United States citizenship that was protected from state restriction by the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution. In this case, the Court found that excluding women from the bar did not violate the U.S. Constitution.

Topics