Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died from metastatic pancreatic cancer at the age of 87 on Friday, September 18th, 2020. In 1993, she was the second woman ever to be appointed to Court by Bill Clinton and served up to her death on Friday.
EARLY LIFE
Ruth’s mother, Cecelia Bader, was the first woman to teach Ruth about the ideals of selflessness and independence. Although her mother did not attend college, she saved all of her money so that Ruth’s brother could continue his education. This essentially inspired Ruth to excel in her studies in high school. Unfortunately, her mother was not able to see Ginsburg graduate from James Madison High School in Brooklyn, for she had died a day before the ceremony.
EDUCATION
Ginsburg graduated from Cornell University in 1954 - finishing first in her class! The same year, she married Martin D. Ginsburg; he was also a law student at Cornell. In their early years of marriage, Ginsburg had a child, Jane, while Martin was drafted into the military. Ginsburg took care of the child for the two years that Martin was serving. Once he returned after two years, Ginsburg decided to return to school at Harvard as a law student. She had to tackle a predominantly male populated school with only eight females out of 500 in her class. Her diligence shined through when she became the first female member of the prestigious legal journal, the Harvard Law Review. Balancing her personal life and education, Ruth decided to teach at at Rutgers University Law School from 1963 to 1972 and at Columbia from 1972 to 1980 - this is where she became the school's first female tenured professor.
ON THE SUPREME COURT
In 1980, former President Jimmy Carter appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals. She served until 1993 where she was appointed the United States Supreme Court Justice by Bill Clinton. Ginsburg was easily voted onto the position with a 96-3 vote by the Senate. Ginsburg used her liberal voice to speak out against gender discrimination in work, the separation of church and power, and reproductive and women’s rights.
NOTABLE CASES AND ACCOMPLISHMENT:
During the 1970’s Civil Rights movement, Ginsburg was the director of the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. She argued for six landmark cases for the Supreme Court on gender equality.
In 1996, Ginsburg’s landmark decision in United States v. Virginia held that the state-supported Virginia Military Institute could not refuse to admit women.
In 1999, she won the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award for her contributions to gender equality and civil rights.
She worked with President Obama to pass the very first piece of legislation he signed, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which, in short, prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women
In King v. Burwell, Ginsburg was one of the six justices to uphold a critical component of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in 2015. This decision allows the federal government to continue to provide subsidies to Americans who purchase healthcare through "exchanges”. This saved ACA for the time being.
With Ginsburg’s help, the Supreme Court voted with a 5–4 majority ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
LEGACY
Not only did Ruth Bader Ginsburg serve for all American citizens, but she also used her grace to enlighten and empower millions of women across the nation. Her brilliant and powerful focus created a change where women, LGBTQ+, and everyone in between felt safe and had equal opportunity to succeed. Her belief in “gender-less” laws was a stepping stone in Supreme Court history to diminish the idea of gender inequality, and now with her gone,her legacy will live onto the many female Supreme Court Justices that will come in the future.
Sources:
History.com Editors. (2009, November 09). Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/ruth-bader-ginsburg
Totenberg, N. (2020, September 18). Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Champion Of Gender Equality, Dies At 87. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/2020/09/18/100306972/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-champion-of-gender-equality-dies-at-87
Photo's from: https://www.politico.com/gallery/2020/09/18/life-of-ruth-bader-ginsburg-003071?slide=9
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