The longtime liberal voice of the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has died at the age of 87.
Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement after her passing on Sept. 18, “Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”
A brilliant legal mind who advocated and adjudicated for women’s rights including equal pay and abortion, voting rights, same-sex marriage, immigrants, health care and affirmative action, Ginsburg was appointed a Federal judge by President Jimmy Carter and named to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
Born March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Ruth Joan Bader graduated with a degree in government at the top of her class from Cornell University in 1954, the same year she married her college sweetheart, Martin Ginsburg, who became a leading tax lawyer. She had trouble getting a job, because law firms were reluctant to hire a woman.
She once wrote, “In the Fifties, the traditional law firms were just beginning to turn around on hiring Jews. But to be a woman, a Jew and a mother to boot — that combination was a bit too much.”
Ginsburg, who enjoyed her pop culture icon status as The Notorious RBG, had survived surgeries for colon, pancreatic and lung cancer in recent years. A biopsy in early 2020 revealed lesions on her liver, which later metastasized, but she remained on the Court and kept up an active life and social schedule, hoping to hang on through the November election.
In a statement dictated to her granddaughter just days before her death, she said, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Ginsburg died at her home in Washington D.C., surrounded by family. Burial will take place at Arlington National Cemetery.
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