Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933 - 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1993 until her death. [1] Before joining the bench she pioneered the legal campaign against gender discrimination as a litigator with the American Civil Liberties Union. [1] The second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, she became a leading voice of its liberal wing and a widely recognized advocate for gender equality. [2]
Early life and education
Ruth Joan Bader was born on 15 March 1933 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. [1] She earned her undergraduate degree at Cornell University, then enrolled at Harvard Law School as one of only a handful of women in her class before transferring to Columbia Law School, where she graduated joint first in 1959. [1] Despite her academic record, she encountered persistent gender discrimination in the profession and initially struggled to find work at a major law firm. [2]
Legal career and advocacy
Ginsburg taught at Rutgers Law School and later became the first tenured woman on the faculty of Columbia Law School. [2] In 1972 she co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, through which she argued six gender-discrimination cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and won five. [1] Her litigation strategy deliberately challenged laws that treated men and women differently, persuading the Court to extend constitutional protection against sex-based discrimination. [3]
Judicial career
President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980. [2] In 1993 President Bill Clinton nominated her to the Supreme Court, and the Senate confirmed her by a vote of 96 to 3, making her the second woman and the first Jewish woman to serve as an Associate Justice. [1]
Jurisprudence
On the Court, Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion in United States v. Virginia (1996), which struck down the male-only admissions policy of the Virginia Military Institute. [3] She became widely known for pointed dissents, including in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (2007); her dissent helped prompt Congress to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. [1]
Legacy
In her later years Ginsburg became an unexpected cultural icon, nicknamed the "Notorious R.B.G.", celebrated for her advocacy of gender equality and her vigorous dissents. [2] She continued to serve on the Court until her death on 18 September 2020 in Washington, D.C. [1] Her career reshaped American law on sex discrimination and made her a lasting symbol of the movement for equal rights. [4]
