We, the undersigned women of the New Hampshire Bar, feel compelled to respond to the misogynistic, unprofessional, and inaccurate comments made by a fellow member of the New Hampshire Bar, Jay Surdukowski, at a recent candidate forum.
On the evening of Aug. 13, the Cheshire County Democrats hosted all six candidates running for the Democratic nomination for the Executive Council in District 2 in an online forum. During the forum, the moderator asked the candidates whether they would have supported Gov. Chris Sununu’s nomination of Attorney General Gordon MacDonald to be the chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. In July 2019, the current executive councilors voted down this nomination in a 3-2 vote, in part because of concerns related to MacDonald’s record on reproductive rights and his lack of trial or prior judicial experience.
In response to the question about MacDonald, Surdukowski, one of the candidates for Executive Council District 2, made false statements about another member of the New Hampshire Bar that were offensive and reprehensible. According to Surdukowski, any lawyer who “actually tries cases” and “actually practices law” supported MacDonald’s nomination – an overstatement and simply not true. He went on to add that the “only lawyer” to testify against MacDonald’s confirmation was a “woman” who was a “failed associate” and not a “real lawyer.”
Surdukowski’s comments were directed at the then-vice president of public policy at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, an accomplished lawyer and highly respected community member. Notably, what he failed to mention was that this attorney was not an unaffiliated, rogue lawyer, but was actually representing the foremost reproductive health organization in the state, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, which opposed MacDonald’s nomination because of their concerns about the threat he posed to abortion rights.
Surdukowski’s disparagement of a fellow member of the New Hampshire Bar was an attempt to diminish the importance of her testimony and downplay her role as the leader of a reproductive health organization. This subversion of women is not new, but it is regrettable that it has made its way so publicly into the New Hampshire Bar and into New Hampshire politics. Unfortunately, sexist assumptions and misogynistic labels are all too familiar for many of us. Any woman who has ever had a strong opinion, spoken truth to power, taken up space, bended a gender norm, experienced professional success, or dared to run for office is familiar with this demeaning language and with characterizations intended to undermine our credentials and accomplishments.
Finally, Surdukowski’s notion that there are “real lawyers” and “not real lawyers” (particularly with respect to female lawyers) is an offensive concept with no place in the New Hampshire Bar. Whether one practices in the courtroom, as in-house counsel, in a government agency, at a nonprofit, or in any other professional capacity, no one set of experiences or skills is more valuable than others. Surdukowski’s attempt at belittling female lawyers whose careers have involved accomplishments other than practicing as a trial lawyer is the ultimate double standard and should be denounced by all members of the New Hampshire Bar.
We are deeply troubled and dismayed that this rhetoric – all too commonplace in national politics these days – has seeped into New Hampshire political discourse. We stand together in a united front against comments like these, designed to put women down and keep us on the sidelines, sending the message that a female lawyer’s voice and opinion carries less importance than her male counterparts. New Hampshire has a long history of powerful, successful female leaders and there is simply no place in the New Hampshire Bar or in New Hampshire politics for this kind of sexist behavior.
(This letter is signed by Reagan Bissonnette of Concord, Esther Dickinson of Concord, Kara Dowal of Concord, Alexandra Geiger of Andover, Mass., Lucy Karl of Hopkinton, Michele Merritt of Goffstown, Linda Saunders Paquette of Hopkinton, Rebecca Perkins Kwoka of Portsmouth, Leah Plunkett of Concord, Kristine Stoddard of Bow, Kathy Sullivan of Manchester, Erin Vanden Borre of Hopkinton, Cinde Warmington of Concord, Emily White of Hopkinton, and Becky Whitley of Hopkinton.)