It was a chilly morning in san francisco march 7 1977 when the commission on judicial appointments convened a hearing to determine whether rose elizabeth bird and wiley manuel would become respectively the first woman and the first african american to sit on the california supreme court ordinarily the chief justice chaired such hearings but california had no sitting chief justice so associate justice mathew tobriner assumed that role attorney general evelle younger and presiding . From the pages of californias court case history author kathleen cairns brings us a story on certain political aspects of the judicial system both in california and in the larger united states the case of rose birdis at once an engaging and informative story about the increasing role of politics in our judicial system it should be noted however that readers expecting a chronical of. Title the case of rose bird gender politics and the california courts kathleen a cairns description lincoln nebraska bison books 2016 includes bibliographical references and index identifiers lccn 2016024936 isbn 9780803255753 hardback alk paper isbn 9780803295421 epub isbn 9780803295438 mobi isbn 9780803295445 pdf. Review of the case of rose bird gender politics and the california courts by kathleen a cairns university of nebraska press 2016. The case of rose bird provides a fascinating look at this important and complex woman and the political and cultural climate of california in the 1970s and 1980s seeking to uncover the identities and motivations of birds vehement critics kathleen a cairns traces birds meteoric rise and cataclysmic fall cairns considers the instrumental role that then current gender dynamics played in