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87-year-old Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in Washington D.C. surrounded by her family, on Sept. 18, 2020.
“She had suffered from five bouts of cancer, most recently a recurrence in early 2020 when a biopsy revealed lesions on her liver,” according to CNN. Throughout her illness, she demonstrated the determination indicative of her well-earned moniker “Notorious R.B.G.”
President Bill Clinton appointed Ginsburg to the court in 1993. She was the second woman to serve as Justice in America’s highest court. She often said she hoped to serve until she was 90.
Senator John Tester (D-Mont.) tweeted: “Tonight this country mourns an icon. Justice Ginsburg was a trailblazer who devoted her entire life to equal justice. May her memory be a blessing.”
Before The Supreme Court
“Joan” Ruth Bader was born on March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents, Nathan and Celia, had two daughters, Marilyn and Ruth. They were a devout Jewish family that attended Synagogue regularly.
Marilyn died when Ruth was just over 12 months old. She lost her mom to cancer when she was a senior in high school.
Her grades garnered her a full scholarship to Cornell University where she met Martin Ginsburg during her first semester. They would marry in June 1954.
While at Cornell she was influenced by two professors; one, Vladimir Nabokov who she drew her writing style from; two, a Constitutional lawyer whose influence led Ginsburg to become a lawyer.
The Ginsburgs welcomed their first child, Jane, while RBG studied at Harvard Law. During her time at Harvard, she broke ground becoming the first woman on the editorial staff of the “Harvard Law Review.”
Martin was diagnosed with cancer, she kept up with her coursework, and cared for him and their daughter.
In 1955, she graduated from law school, she found finding work difficult — because she was a woman and a mother. At the time very few women in the United States were lawyers and there had been only two female federal judges.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Source:
CNN: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dead at 87; Joan Biskupic and Ariane de Vogue
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Wake Forest University School of Law’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
