The National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section (NCJW/Essex) announces its 2016 Opening Event featuring award winning journalist Dahlia Lithwick, a contributing editor at “Newsweek” and senior editor at “Slate.” The NCJW/Essex Opening Event is set to take place on Thur., Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m., at Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park.

Lithwick writes the “Supreme Court Dispatches” and “Jurisprudence” columns for “Slate” and functions as a legal correspondent, often providing summaries of and commentary on current U.S. Supreme Court cases. Her work related to the Affordable Care Act won her a 2013 National Magazine Award and she has twice been recognized with Online Journalism Awards for her legal commentary. Additionally, she was the first online journalist invited to be on the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Registration is required for the Opening Event which is open to the public and is free of charge to NCJW/Essex members and $20 for nonmembers. Boutique shopping, coffee and dessert are available from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.; the program begins at 7:30 p.m. Those nonmembers wishing to join NCJW/Essex can apply $20 toward a new yearly membership of $50. Attendees can register for the event by calling 973-740-0588 or online at ncjwessex.org.

“The stakes in the upcoming 2016 election regarding the Supreme Court are high and it’s likely that the next president will have at least two or three appointments in the first term,” says Shari Harrison, president NCJW/Essex. “A single Supreme Court vote can alter the political and moral discourse in our country for decades to come. I can think of no one better to explain this impact than the knowledgeable and engaging Dahlia Lithwick. We look forward to hearing about where the court goes from here and why it matters.”