Clara Shortridge Foltz [SEP] sex or gender
Clara Shortridge Foltz
Clara Shortridge Foltz (July 16, 1849 – September 2, 1934) was an American lawyer, the first female lawyer on the West Coast, and pioneered the idea of the public defender. The Criminal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles was renamed after her in 2002, and is now known as the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
Early life and legal education.
Foltz was born Clarissa Shortridge in Milton, Indiana, to Talitha and Elias Willetts Shortridge (a lawyer and preacher).
after a yearlong dispute. In 1878, Clara Shortridge Foltz became the first woman to be admitted to practice law in the state of California. To do so, she had to lobby the state legislature to remove the gender restriction in the law. Nonetheless, after her legislative success, she was still denied admission to the state's Hastings College of law on the grounds that women would "distract the attention of the male students." Ms. Foltz only gained admission to the state school after arguing her case to the California Supreme