Life and Legacy of U.S. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
On 18th September, 2020, the world mourned the passing of a liberal icon U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Brooklyn-born Justice, who fought fearlessly against gender discrimination and advocated strongly for women’s rights, lost the battle against pancreatic cancer, breathing her last at the age of 87.
From being one of the only 9 women in her Harvard Law School class to being the second female Justice of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg a.k.a. the “Notorious RBG”, broke through societal expectations and stereotypes against women and paved groundbreaking paths for those who were deprived of their civil liberties and rights.
While her life left a significant and an instrumental mark on the history of justice, her death has invited a series of speculation on who might fill the vacancy on the court. But as the debate rages on and there is no overlooking the matter, it is important to understand the legacy that the late Justice has left behind and the enormity of the shoes the succeeding Justice will have to fill. That being said, here’s a brief yet magnificent glimpse of the life and legacy of U.S. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Photo: Getty images
Her early childhood and education
Born in Brooklyn on March 15, 1933, Joan Ruth Bader was the daughter of a Jewish emigrant man from Ukraine and a New York-born polish woman. Also known as ‘Kiki’ at home, Ginsburg attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn, where she excelled in her studies and did justice to her mother's sacrifices. Later, she graduated from Cornell University in 1954, finishing first in her class. In 1956, Ginsburg enrolled at Harvard Law School, where she was one of only 9 women in a class of about 500 men and became the first female member of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. After moving to New York with her husband, Ginsburg then graduated from Columbia Law School, ranking first in her class.
Photo: Supreme Court of the United States
Her ‘marriage of equals’ to Martin Ginsburg
The year Ginsburg graduated, she also married Martin D. Ginsburg, a fellow law student at Cornell University. Hers was a marriage of equals and an epitome of love, where there was respect and a thriving level of understanding. On being asked about her marital relationship with her husband, Ruth had once said, “If you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it. I had a life partner who thought my work was as important as his, and I think that made all the difference for me.”
Photo: Courtesy of Justice Ginsburg's Personal Collection
When she was a professor at the Columbia University School of Law
Flourishing in her line of academia, she also taught at Rutgers University and then the Columbia Law School and became the director of the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. That said, Ginsburg was the first woman to be hired with tenure at the Columbia University School of Law.
In 1980, she was appointed a judge to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by President Jimmy Carter
Following her successful career as a Professor, in 1980, U.S. President Jimmy Carter nominated Ginsburg as a judge for the US Court of Appeals' District of Columbia Circuit. During her service, she worked alongside her another future Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia.
Photo: U.S. National Archives
After over a decade, President Bill Clinton nominated her to the Supreme Court
After serving on D.C.'s Court of Appeals until 1993, Ginsburg was then nominated by the then U.S. President Bill Clinton as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Bill Clinton was very determined and oriented towards increasing the court's diversity and Ginsburg seemed like the perfect candidate for it.
She became the second female and the first Jewish female justice of the Supreme Court
With her nomination, she became the second female and the first Jewish female justice of the Supreme Court. Eventually, she also became the longest-serving Jewish Justice. During her Senate confirmation hearing, she threw light upon the struggles and challenges faced by women in the legal profession and also emphasized on how her family and her husband supported her throughout the years.
Photo: AP images
Her fearless fight against gender discrimination
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a pioneering advocate for women’s rights and fought strongly against gender discrimination and inequality. One of her path breaking cases in the realm of gender justice was that against the long-standing male–only policy of the Virginia Military Institute, where women were denied access to the facility. Ginsburg argued that a government Institute could not deny women equal participation just on the basis of their gender.
Besides fighting for the rights of women, Ginsburg also recognized the rights of men. In 1975, Ginsburg also advocated against the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 402 (g), that only permitted widows but not widowers to collect special benefits while caring for minor children, which according to Ginsburg was a violation of equal rights protection. This was one of the most epic cases in the life of the late Justice that depicted her true dedication towards gender equality.
On her judicial legacy as a “Great Dissenter”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg has in many ways been compared to the figure of Thurgood Marshall, a U.S. Supreme Court judge who had fought for the rights of African American. While Marshall advocated for the equal rights of African-American men and women, Ginsburg supported gender equality, equal rights for immigrants, LGBTQ communities, safe abortion rights and many more. Known as the “Notorious RBG”, she dissented in many of the court’s decisions and was also one of the liberal voices of dissent in a courtroom full of conservatives. Hence winning her the title of the Great Dissenter.
Photo: Supreme Court of the United States
She has also authored a book that became a bestseller
Besides her judicial legacy, she has also presented the world with a book called “My Own Words”, published by Simon and Schuster in 2016. The book is a descriptive collection of her speeches and writings and discusses the many aspects of her life. From expressing details about her life as a Jew to discussing gender equality and justice, Ginsburg through her book leaves an imprint on our day to day lives.
She won many battles but not the one against cancer
On September 18th, 2020, after years of fighting the deadly disease, Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at her residence in Washington, D.C. Although she lost her battle against pancreatic cancer, people will surely remember her for the rich and extravagant legacy of justice and equality she’s left behind.
- By Tenzin Chodon
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