On this day in ...... 2002, Brigitte Zypries (left) began serving as Germany's Federal Minister of Justice, a post she continues to hold. Born on November 16, 1953, in Kassel, Germany, she worked as an academic assistant at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe after completing her law studies; eventually she became the Head of Division for Constitutional Law at the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony and then served in other government posts. Among her 1st efforts as Justice Minister was reform of German law on sex crimes; another was the updating of intellectual property laws. A few months ago Zypries explained in an interview with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum "why her government passed a law making Holocaust denial a criminal offense and why that law is important."
