Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (Ret.), Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Justice Elena Kagan in the Justices' Conference Room, prior to Justice Kagan's Investiture Ceremony on October 1, 2010. Supreme Court of the U.S.
Early Life
Born Ruth Joan Baden on March 15, 1933, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was always taught the value of education and pushed to succeed by her mother. Born at the height of the Great Depression, her father was a furrier(or someone who prepares and deals in furs), and her mother was a garment worker. Throughout Ginsburg’s attendance at James Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York, she excelled. Sadly, the day before her high school graduation, her mother died of cancer.
Ginsburg continued to excel at Cornell University, and graduated in 1954 at the top of her class. The very same year, she married her husband, Martin, a first-year law student at Cornell. Also in 1954, Ginsburg had her first daughter Jane shortly after her husband was drafted, and put her education on hold temporarily until her husband returned. He served for two years, and when he returned, the she enrolled at Harvard Law School. Shortly after, in 1956, her husband was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Ginsburg continued to pursue her education while also keeping her husband up to date in his schoolwork. With his wife’s help, Martin Ginsburg recovered from cancer and graduated from Harvard. He then got a job at a law firm in New York City, and so the family moved, and Ginsburg enrolled at Columbia Law School. In 1959, she graduated first in her class.
Famous Cases
Throughout her lengthy career, Ginsburg has argued many cases, most of which concerned women’s rights. These included Reed vs Reed, in which she argued that when being appointed administrators of an estate, men should not receive priority over women. It was the first time the 14th Amendment was used to prohibit differential treatment based on gender. Another famous case she argued was Califano vs Goldfarb, where she insisted that survivors benefits should not discriminate based on sex. It was in the wake of another famous dissent by Ginsburg(Shelby County vs Holder), that she gained the nickname Notorious R.B.G. A law student started a blog about her, and the name was a reference to The Notorious B.I.G., the rapper also referred to as Biggie.
Supreme Court
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court by Bill Clinton in 1993, after the death of Byron White. At the time of her nomination, she was considered to be a moderate, though now, she is one of the most liberal justices. Since her appointment Ginsburg has ruled on many cases, including United States vs Virginia, where Virginia Military Institute, the last all-male military school, argued that women weren’t suited for their vigorous training, and that the liberal arts school they had created was equal. Ginsburg made sure that the school was open to women in the end.