I have just finished reading a wonderful article, William Hoke, Women in Tax Law -- Willebrandt Breaks DOJ Glass Ceiling (Tax Notes Worldwide Tax Daily 11/12/18), here. (This link may be a temporary link; I have asked Tax Notes for permission to put the article on my Google Docs web site as a permanent link; I have not heard back yet.) Readers having access to Tax Notes Worldwide Tax Daily may read it before I obtain that permission.
The Hoke article is fascinating with a lot of interesting detail on Willebrandt. Well written. Highly recommended.
The Hoke article is fascinating with a lot of interesting detail on Willebrandt. Well written. Highly recommended.
Hoke cites in the article this "posthumous" interview of Mabel Walker Willebrandt, here, by Jasper L. Cummings, Jr.,a and Alan J.J. Swirski. Excerpts from this interview:
Mabel Walker Willebrandt headed what became the Tax Division of the U.S. Justice Department from 1921 to 1929. She was famous at the time not for her tax duties but for her duties in enforcing the Volstead Act (Prohibition), which also was handled by her division. She was the second female Assistant Attorney General.*
* See generally Elizabeth K. MacDonald, “The Justice Department and Some Problems of Enforcement:” Mabel Walker Willebrandt, “Prohibition Portia” (posted at Women’s Legal History Project, Stanford University); Mabel Walker Willebrandt, The Inside of Prohibition (1929); Dorothy M. Brown, Mabel Walker Willebrandt: A Study of Power, Loyalty and Law (1984) (which was serialized in the New York Times); The Frederick A. Cook Society website; New York Times obituary, Apr. 9, 1963, at 31; various New York Times Archive articles, including Jan. 11 and 19, 1925, Nov. 17, 1925, Sept. 27, 1928, May 28, 1929, Apr. 15, 1934, and Oct. 22, 1950.
Q What did you do before you joined the Justice Department?
A I graduated from the law school of the University of California in 1916 and largely defended prostitutes in police court. I served as the first public defender for women in Los Angeles, without pay, and represented over 2000 women. I did become active in Republican Party politics.
Q Why were you appointed to head Prohibition enforcement?
A Well, as one of my friends said: “Nobody in the Justice Department wanted that job. It had no political advantages at all. So, of course, they gave it to Mabel.” So I certainly did not seek out that part of the job. Eventually the opposition of the wets kept me from being appointed as the first female federal judge.Q Was there any conflict between your responsibility for Prohibition enforcement and for tax appeals?
A Some would say so. I recall the time I ruled that imported bootleg alcohol could be sold by the Federal Marshals tax free. Secretary Mellon and the Commissioner were against me on that one and took it up with the Attorney General and Congress. The Times headline said I “overruled Mellon.”
Q How many cases did you argue in the Supreme Court?
A My office submitted 278 cases on certiorari to the Supreme Court and I personally argued many of them; I am listed on 172 cases. Of course, my staff wrote most of the briefs.
