Justice Minister Rachida Dati has turned heads in Paris, having moved out of the maternity ward and into a Cabinet meeting five days after giving birth at age 43. While Dati has wide public support, she has largely fallen out of favor with magistrates, lawyers, and President Nicholas Sarkozy, who many claim propelled the daughter of Moroccan and Algerian parents to the Justice Ministry as his emblem of diversity. Dati has built her career on defying the conventions of France and her own humble beginnings. One of 11 children who grew up in a housing project in Chalon-sur-Saone in southeast France, Dati’s life has been marked by determination. She wrote letters to Sarkozy seeking a job and served as a spokeswoman during his presidential campaign.
