The world mourned when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a trailblazer, icon and fierce champion of women’s rights, died due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Her death sparked a contentious fight over her replacement but her lasting mark on equality and liberties was honored across the political spectrum. A quiet and staid Supreme Court justice is an unlikely icon for a generation of young female activists, but the “Notorious RBG” now graces T-shirts and internet memes across the nation.
Ginsburg, who died at the age of 87, began her rise to the top of the legal profession as co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1972. Her unique litigation strategy challenged sexist laws, through a careful appeal to her audience.
“She argued several cases before male Supreme Court justices who had traditional marriages, with wives taking care of the home front. So, she cleverly brought cases with male litigants who had been discriminated against because of their gender,” said Clare Cushman, resident historian at the Supreme Court Historical Society.
Ginsburg focused on breaking down gender stereotypes in the decades before President Clinton nominated her to the court in 1993. She was seen as a moderate at the time and was only the second woman to sit on the high court.
“She knew she had to persuade male judges that the paradigm with which they were familiar in their lives was too narrow and that assumptions about gender roles could damage both women and men. Angrily demanding equal rights for women under the law would not have enlightened the justices listening to her arguments and would not have been as successful,” Cushman said.
Her groundbreaking work for ACLU included Frontiero v. Richardson in 1973, which involved a female Air Force lieutenant who claimed her husband as a dependent but was denied military married couples housing. In Craig v. Boren, Ginsburg challenged an Oklahoma statute that prevented men from buying beer until 21 — but allowed women to buy beer at 18 because they were seen as less of a danger.
Now an idol among progressives, Ginsburg hails from an era when Supreme Court nominees were less controversial than they are now. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and former Sens. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) and Bob Dole (R-Kan.) voted to confirm Ginsburg. While on the court, she famously had a friendship with the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.
The Supreme Court’s eight justices marked her death last week by honoring her as a “tireless and resolute champion of justice,” a “rock of righteousness” and an “American hero.”
— Alex Gangitano
photo: Getty Images