Photo Credit: Supreme Court of the United States
Born on March 15, 1933, Ruth Bader Ginsburg attended Cornell University, graduating at the top of her class in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts in Government. She later attended Harvard Law School and transferred to Columbia Law School, where she graduated first in her class with a law degree.
Photo Credit: CNN
From 1963 to 1980, Ginsburg was a professor at Rutgers University as well as Columbia University School of Law, where she was the first tenured woman hired.
Ginsburg was known for her stances on many human's rights issues, specifically women's rights. She fought against gender-discrimination in all senses, and became a prominent member of the Supreme Court, whom former president Barack Obama admits was “one of [his] favorites”.
United States v. Virginia
In one of her most widely known cases, Ginsburg voted with the majority against the State of Virginia, which held a long-standing admission policy of the Virginia Military Institute that allowed only males to attend, disallowing women any acceptance into the higher learning institute.
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Throughout her time as Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg was involved in many important issues and hearings. Such examples include: Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.—wherein an employee sued the cooperation for incomperable payment compared to her male counterparts, her dissent of the 2014 ruling that certain non-for-profit companies cannot be required to pay for contraception for their employees, and Obergefell v. Hodge, where she voted with the majority and ruled that the fundamental rights of marriage of same-sex couples is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. Even through her long-going battles with many forms of cancers, Justice Ginsburg was absent from the bench during arguments on only one occasion following an operation for lung cancer.
October 5, 2002
Ginsburg was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
September 18, 2020
After battling many forms of cancer throughout her lifetime, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in her home in Washington D.C. due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. It is said that Ginsburg passed away peacefully surrounded by her family.
Works Cited:
- https://www.oyez.org/justices/ruth_bader_ginsburg
- https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/07/us/ruth-bader-ginsburg-fast-facts/index.html
- https://www.oyez.org/justices/ruth_bader_ginsburg
- https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/09/harvard-community-reflects-on-the-life-achievements-of-ruth-bader-ginsburg/