Sylvia Pressler, NJ judge whose 1973 ruling opened Little League baseball to girls, dies

NJ judge who opened Little League to girls dies

ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — A retired New Jersey judge who issued a ruling that opened Little League baseball to girls has died. Sylvia Pressler was 75.

Her husband, David Pressler, says his wife died at the family’s home in Sparta. She had been battling lymphoma.

In 1973, Pressler was among the first women appointed to the New Jersey Superior Court.

She ruled that year in favor of a Hoboken girl who wanted to play Little League, writing “the institution of Little League is as American as the hot dog and apple pie.” The ruling cleared the way for New Jersey to become the first state to bar sex discrimination in Little League.

Pressler retired in 2004 as presiding judge for the administration of the state appellate court. She was the first woman to hold that position.