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15 Facts About Norma Zarky

1.

Norma Goldstein Zarky was a prominent lawyer in Los Angeles, active in the fight for abortion rights and other civil rights.

2.

Norma Zarky then transferred to the University of Wisconsin, where she received her law degree in 1939 through a combined six-year arts and law program.

3.

Norma Zarky graduated with membership in Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif.

4.

Norma Zarky married Hilbert Philip Zarky on July 29,1939.

5.

Norma Zarky served as a lawyer for the Railroad Retirement Board, and during World War II she was employed by the Office of Price Administration, enforcing price regulations in the clothing industry.

6.

Norma Zarky worked for a number of lawyers, including Joseph L Rauh, Jr.

7.

Norma Zarky co-authored a number of briefs with Rauh on civil rights cases during the 1950s.

8.

In 1954, during the McCarthy Era, the Department of Justice sought to fire Hilbert Zarky from his position with the Department, based primarily on Norma's very brief involvement with Communism when she was an undergraduate in the mid-1930s, along with such "crimes" as their belonging to a liberal book club and being at meetings attended by "suspect" individuals.

9.

Norma Zarky was the first woman to serve as president of the Beverly Hills Bar Association and was a founding member of Women in Film.

10.

Norma Zarky was particularly active in the fight for legalized abortion.

11.

Norma Zarky was "one of the two leading California attorneys" strategizing the legal battles.

12.

Norma Zarky authored the ACLU's amicus brief in People v Belous, in which the California Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Raymond E Peters, upheld a woman's right to abortion.

13.

Norma Zarky wrote an amicus brief on behalf of the American Association of University Women in Roe v Wade, the case that established the right to abortion on a nationwide basis.

14.

Norma Zarky herself, have demonstrated enlightened support for the advancement of equal opportunity for all and devotion to the improvement of the human condition.

15.

In 2018, Norma Zarky was added to the James Madison High School Alumni Association Wall of Distinction, joining such other alumni as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, William Gaines, and environmentalist Barry Commoner.