The Life And Legacy Of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

An unlikely pioneer, she became a cultural and feminist icon.

by Jill Hudson and Suzette Lohmeyer Shuran Huang/NPR Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the soft-spoken firebrand who in her 80s became a legal, cultural and feminist icon, died at her home in Washington, D.C. on Friday. The Supreme Court announced her death, saying the cause was complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was 87. As an architect of the legal fight for women's rights in the 1970s, Ginsburg subsequently served 27 years on the nation's highest court, becoming its most prominent member. Born in 1933 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Ruth Bader went to public schools, where she excelled as a student. At age 17, she went to Cornell University on a full scholarship, where she met Martin (aka "Marty") Ginsburg. The couple married, started a family and both went on to attend Harvard Law School, where she was one of only nine women in a class of more than 500. Despite graduating at the top of her law school class, the doors to law firms were closed to women, and though recommended for a Supreme Court clerkship, Bader wasn't even interviewed. In 1963, Ginsburg finally landed a teaching job at Rutgers Law School, where she began her work fighting gender discrimination. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Becoming A Beloved Women's Rights Icon  Bettmann/Corbis Ginsburg was an unlikely pioneer, a diminutive and shy woman, whose soft voice and large glasses hid an intellect and attitude that, as one colleague put it, was "tough as nails." Ginsburg founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union and would go on to become the first tenured female professor at Columbia Law School. As the chief architect of the battle for women's legal rights, she devised a strategy that was characteristically cautious, precise and single-mindedly aimed at one goal: winning. By the time she donned judicial robes, however, Ginsburg had worked a revolution. In the last few years, Ginsburg's initials became a so-old-school-it’s-cool shorthand that took on a life of its own. By the time she was in her 80s, she had become something of a rock star. She was the subject of a hit documentary, a biopic, an operetta, merchandise galore featuring her "Notorious RBG" moniker, a Time magazine cover, and regular Saturday Night Live sketches. The Upcoming Political Battle Rebecca Gibian/AP Ginsburg's death will have profound consequences for the court and the country. In a statement dictated to her granddaughter Clara Spera days before her death, Ginsburg said, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new President is installed.” Her death gives Republicans the chance to tighten their grip on the Supreme Court with another Trump appointment so conservatives would have 6-to-3 majority.  At the center of the battle to achieve that will be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. In 2016, he took a step unprecedented in modern times: He refused for nearly a year to allow any consideration of President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee. But now, with the tables turned, McConnell has made clear he will not follow the same course. Instead he will try immediately to push through a Trump nominee so as to ensure a conservative justice to fill Ginsburg's liberal shoes. So what happens in the coming weeks will be bare-knuckle politics, writ large, on the stage of a presidential election.  What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: bestofnpr@npr.org You received this message because you're subscribed to Best of NPR emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy