Women in the United States judiciary  The number of women in the United States judiciary has increased as more women have entered law school, but women still face significant barriers in pursuing legal careers. Women faced significant barriers in entering the legal profession in the US. In 1875, for instance, the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied Lavinia Goodell admission to the state bar on the grounds that "[n]ature has tempered woman as little for the juridical conflicts of the court room, as for the physical conflicts of the battle field. Womanhood is moulded [sic] for gentler and better things." In June 1869, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that Arabella Mansfield could not be denied a chance to take the bar exam because she is a woman. She took the exam and passed, becoming the first licensed female lawyer in the United States. In 1872, the United States Supreme Court affirmed a decision from the Supreme Court of Illinois that denied Myra Bradwell admission to the state bar. The state Supreme Court had reasoned that because state law invalidated any contract entered into by a married woman without the consent of her husband, women (most of whom would be married) could not adequately represent her clients. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, noting that even though some women might not actually be married, such women were the rare exceptions. The U.S. Supreme Court noted:  Also in 1872, the Utah Bar admitted its first two women Phoebe Couzins and Georgianna Snow. In 1873, Belva Lockwood was admitted to the Washington, D.C., bar 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 Court. In Washington D.C., Belva Lockwood lobbied Congress on three separate occasions to change the U.S. Supreme Court admissions rules to allow a woman to argue before the court. Her efforts succeeded. Lockwood was sworn in as the first woman member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar on March 3, 1879. Late in 1880, she became the first woman lawyer to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.