By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer
May 4, 2010 2:22 p.m. EDT
May 4, 2010 2:22 p.m. EDT
Washington (CNN) -- As a young working mother in the the early 1980s, Diane Wood, like many of her generation, struggled to balance work and family.
The future judge and Supreme Court contender had just accepted a job teaching law in Chicago, Illinois, while pregnant with her second child.
Soon after David was born, the professor went into anaphylactic shock and was rushed to the hospital with post-pregnancy complications. Despite her serious condition, she recovered quickly, but really had no choice. Friends say that with two young kids and a new job, no maternity leave was offered, and her male colleagues at work were mostly clueless over how to deal with her.
"People had no idea what to do with the fact that I had these two tiny children," she told an interviewer last year. Overcoming institutional and social challenges to become a nationally recognized legal heavyweight and high court contender, colleagues say, is a testament to Wood's intellectual and personal fortitude.
Her long, relatively liberal judicial record presents both a measure of certainty about the kind of justice she would become, and a political challenge getting her confirmed.
"Diane Wood is among the most respected federal judges on the left," said Thomas Goldstein, a Supreme Court legal analyst and founder of scotusblog.com. "Being a woman is a political plus, but she has decided cases on abortion, affirmative action, religion, and the like. That will generate more of a political firestorm."
The future judge and Supreme Court contender had just accepted a job teaching law in Chicago, Illinois, while pregnant with her second child.
Soon after David was born, the professor went into anaphylactic shock and was rushed to the hospital with post-pregnancy complications. Despite her serious condition, she recovered quickly, but really had no choice. Friends say that with two young kids and a new job, no maternity leave was offered, and her male colleagues at work were mostly clueless over how to deal with her.
"People had no idea what to do with the fact that I had these two tiny children," she told an interviewer last year. Overcoming institutional and social challenges to become a nationally recognized legal heavyweight and high court contender, colleagues say, is a testament to Wood's intellectual and personal fortitude.
Her long, relatively liberal judicial record presents both a measure of certainty about the kind of justice she would become, and a political challenge getting her confirmed.
"Diane Wood is among the most respected federal judges on the left," said Thomas Goldstein, a Supreme Court legal analyst and founder of scotusblog.com. "Being a woman is a political plus, but she has decided cases on abortion, affirmative action, religion, and the like. That will generate more of a political firestorm."
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