Athene: glory hog or impartial mediator?

I still don't understand how Athene was allowed to strip the Furies of their power in the Eumenides. They were created long before her. They were created for justice. She may be the goddess of wisdom but they are higher than her, or at least they're suppposed to be. It sounds like she's giving them a promotion but really what she's doing is treating them like children who've been bad and have to stand next to their mother for a while while all the other children play. She tries to reason with them about how she is the only one who knows where the keys to Zeus's thunderbolts are and tells them that all the people of Athens will treat them with respect. Well that's all fine and dandy but I still just don't understand where she got that power. Is she just asserting authority that she doesn't have over them or has she truly been given this right? Did the Olympians come in and simply take the power that had been placed for centuries? THat doesn't seem right.
Furthermore, what is with this whole, "I don't have a womb so I'm going to side with the boys." Our Athene was simply mimicking what Athene in the book did and no one can fault her for staying true to the text. However, can a male judge not judge a trial in which a woman killed her husband for hurting one of their children? Can a female judge not preside over the trial of a man who beats his wife simply because her fists are not as strong and full of hate? I think there's a moral precedent that should always prevail in justice. Now, in this particular trial it was quite a gray area but admitting that she always sides with the boys because she has no womb? That's kind of ridiculous.