Ruth Bader Ginsberg, RBG for short, was an inspiration to many people, especially women, who fought against injustices and secured a prominent place in the supreme court. She was a steadfast, hard-working, strong-willed woman who didn't let anything get in the way of her goals. Even as she faced hardships and discrimination, she pushed on and paved a path for herself that would produce a heavy-hitting list of achievements for her in the long run.
From a young child she faced difficulties, as her sister passed away when RBG was only 2 and her mother followed the literal day before RBG had graduated high school. Even with this tragic event, she still was able to be accepted and attend Cornell University, earning her bachelor's degree in government while holding high honors and distinction in all of her subjects. In the same year as her college graduation, 1954, she was married to Martin Ginsberg, an aspiring lawyer at the time. Both were accepted into Harvard Law School, RBG right behind Martin in 1956, which was only a little bit more than a year after the birth of their first child in 1955. She was only one of 9 women in a class of over 500 at the prestigious school.
While in school, Martin was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and RBG rose to the occasion, shining like a beacon of hope for the both of them as she attended both of their classes and completed both of their assignments all while she cared for both her husband and child. I can't even begin to imagine the immense pressure she was under, and the fortitude she must have had to do it all, but she did it. It's seriously impressive. During all of this, she also won a seat on the Harvard Law Review. Once Martin recovered, he graduated and accepted a position in NYC, so RBG then transferred to Columbia University in Manhattan. Here, she continued her final year of classes and she also won a seat on the law review at this school- the first person, man or woman, to hold a spot on both law reviews. Just racking up accomplishment huh Ruth? Not one to graduate an underachiever, she was of course first place in her class, albeit tied with another student.
This is where her progress stymied for a bit, though not due to anything she could control. The discrimination she faced as a woman in a male-dominated field was immense and she was turned down at every single law firm that she applied to, even with a glowing recommendation from one of her Harvard professors. No one would even take her on as a law clerk. Her stellar credentials didn't matter, the amount of work she did to achieve those credentials didn't matter. She was a woman and that's all that mattered. Later in 1959, she was finally offered a clerkship with Judge Edmund G. Palmieri of the US District Court for the Southern District of NY where she worked until 1961. This was the year that she returned to Columbia University in order to work on the school's project focusing on International Procedure. Now, with one job under her belt, it wasn't as "scary" to hire her for some of these other law firms and she received many job offers in major law firms, but she stayed focused on this project, declining all offers. How nice it must have been to now decline these firms the way that they had originally declined her, just to even have that as an option must have been empowering to her.
After becoming the associate director for the aforementioned Columbia University project, she began teaching herself Swedish in preparation for a trip to Sweden where she learned their legal system at the University of Lund. They didn't even have Duolingo back then, so I imagine learning a new language was a different kind of struggle than it is today. From here on, the accomplishments for her rolled in. In 1963 she became a professor of law at Rutgers in New Jersey and in 1965 she finished writing her textbook inspired from her Sweden trip, Civil Procedure in Sweden AND was the same year that her son was born. 1970 saw the first law journal in the United States that was devoted to gender equality issues, The Women's Rights Reporter, of which she was a co-founder.
Finding herself at Columbia University again in 1972, she taught there and became the first women at the university to receive tenure. In that same year RBG founded the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) Women's Rights Project after receiving so many sex discrimination complaints that were referred to her by the ACLU. RBG also became that projects general counsel, served on the national board of the ACLU, and began writing the very first textbook on sex discrimination law; Text, Cases, and Materials on Sex-Based Discrimination. The next year, she won her argued her first case before the Supreme Court and after that, they couldn't shake her, as she would go on to continue arguing cases of sex discrimination before it. And the year after that, 1974, saw that previously mentioned textbook on sex discrimination law become published. All the while she had begun to speak as a visiting lecturer at law schools and institutions throughout the US and Europe.
She was true to her beliefs in gender equality, as shown in her 1975 victory during the Weinberger V. Wiesenfeld case, where she acquired social security child support benefits for a a widower, Stephen Wiesenfeld. If he were a woman, he would have received these benefits without any issues, but as he was not a woman, he had to fight in order to attain them. Victory came to her again in 1978 during the Duren V. Missouri case, making jury duty mandatory for women, as it was for men (gee thanks RBG) instead of having it remain optional. She argued that having jury duty be optional for women, it was devaluing women's contributions as citizens.
Two years later, in 1980, United States President Carter appointed her to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit where she stayed for 13 years. That was when US President Clinton appointed her to the Supreme Court- I told you they couldn't shake her! She was only the 2nd woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court after Sandra Day O'Connor. However, RBG was the first Jewish woman to serve. Due to her reputation and career thus far, Justice Ginsberg was often called upon to rule in cases regarding the rights of women and for any issues involving gender equality. She was also a known supporter of Women's reproductive Freedom and of gay marriage. She was even the first justice to officiate a same-sex marriage. While usually identified as a member of the Supreme Court's liberal wing, she held good relationships with all sides of the Court, including the more conservative members like Sandra Day O'Connor and Antonin Scalia.
1996 saw her ruling with the majority in the case of the United States V. Virginia in which it was ruled that the state could no longer run an all-male educational institution, the Virginia Military Institute, with taxpayer money. And again in 2000 during the case of Stenberg V. Carhart which shut down a Nebraska law that would have banned "partial birth" abortions.
In 1999 RBG was diagnosed with colon cancer, but in true RBG fashion, she underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy all without missing a single day of work. Later in 2009 she was diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer that needed surgery. She was back at it only 12 days after surgery this time around. Not only that, but in the same year, her dissent in the Ledbetter V. Goodyear case, which rejected a pay discrimination case on a technicality, led congress to enact the equal pay legislation that US President Obama signed.
Sadly, in 2010, her husband Martin would succumb to his cancer only four days after their 56th wedding anniversary. Only 10 years later, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg's legacy would end when she lost her own battle to her pancreatic cancer. Her work and tenacity is remembered and embodied by the younger generations who have been inspired and motivated by her to make change, work hard, and not accept being treated any less simply because of your gender. She is an icon and will live on in those who continue to fight for justice and equality.
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Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash
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