Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Legendary judge and rights activist was 87

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Legendary judge and rights activist was 87

Legendary judge and women's rights activist, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died at her home in Washington at the age of 87. According to the Supreme Court, complications from pancreatic cancer were the cause. She has been fighting him for the past two years.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born on March 15, 1933, the son of Jewish immigrants Nathan and Cecilia Bader. The girl grew up in one of the poorer areas of Brooklyn, watching her mother fight cancer for years.

Cecilia Ginsburg was the first to truly inspire Ruth. Although she never received her education, the woman worked diligently in a garment factory so that her brother could pay for college, and made sure that her daughter could also focus on her studies. More than anything, Cecilia wanted Ruth to get two things that she was deprived of — education and independence. Ginzburg died just a day before her daughter graduated from school.

«If you want to become a real professional — devote yourself to something that is bigger than you.»

Bader graduated from Cornell University in 1954 — the first in the group. In the same year, she married her fellow practitioner, Martin Ginzburg. In 55, the couple had a daughter, and in 56, Ruth and her husband entered Harvard, where she faced one of her first serious trials.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Legendary judge and rights activist was 87Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Legendary judge and rights activist was 87

Finding a balance between school and motherhood was difficult, but it was much more difficult to get used to the hostile environment of Harvard classrooms. In a class of 500, there were only 8 women — none of whom the men were going to take seriously.

Ruth, in turn, was not going to give up. She worked tirelessly and received one highest point after another. Bader-Ginsburg became the first woman in two prestigious legal publications — Harvard Law Review and Columbia Law Review, and in 1959 she graduated from Columbus Law School, the first in her graduation (where she transferred when Martin was offered a job in New York).

“If the judge is sure that the majority opinion is wrong, he has every right to express his disagreement. I use this right when I know it will be right. »

Despite her accomplishments, Ruth still faced prejudice and discrimination when looking for work. In Columbia, where she taught from 1972 to 1980, Bader-Ginsburg was the first female tenured professor.

She continued to fight for gender equality — by launching the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

As Project Director, Ruth has participated in six lawsuits, of which she won five.

Ginsburg believed that everyone should be equal before the law. It wasn't just about discrimination against women: in one of 5 cases she won, Ruth represented a widower who could not receive benefits under the Social Security Act, which favored widows.

«Feminism means that every woman has the right to reach her potential without being held back by the barriers created by men.»

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Legendary judge and rights activist was 87

1980 saw a new career break: President Jimmy Carter appointed Ruth to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Bader-Ginsburg held the position until 1993, when she became a member of the US Supreme Court.

In 1996, she spoke on behalf of her colleagues, writing and announcing the landmark decision in the United States v. Virginia case. The court ruled that the Virginia Military Institute — the last male-only community college in the country — can no longer deny admission to women. In her speech, Bader-Ginsburg noted that the current VMI system serves exclusively the sons of Virginia, «offering nothing to her daughters.»

In 1999, the judge received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association — for her contributions to the fight for gender equality and civil rights.

Ruth has always been famous for her impeccably dispassionate manner of presentation. Perhaps that is why she was in the spotlight during the Bush v. Mountain hearing, which was supposed to decide the fate of the 2000 presidential election.

While the majority sided with Bush, the judge opposed. She ended her statement with 'I dissent', leaving out the traditional 'with all due respect.'

The phrase has become a cult.

In 2010, Ruth's husband, Martin, died, the only man she met with, according to the judge, who «noticed that I had a brain.» The couple lived together for 56 years. Grief did not prevent the judge from going to work the day after the death of her husband.

In 2015, Ginsburg played a pivotal role in the Obergefell v. Hodges case, the legendary trial that allowed same-sex marriage in all 50 states in America. Ruth ruthlessly criticized her colleagues, who argued that by allowing same-sex couples to marry, the court would violate the tradition of the institution of marriage.

“Previously, marriage meant a relationship where a woman is unquestioningly subordinate to a man. — said Ginsburg to Judges Roberts and Kennedy — In 1982, this very court ruled that this should not be so. Are we really going to cling to what marriage once was? »

Ruth made it clear where she sees the line between tradition and regression. When her opponents tried to exploit the fact that same-sex couples are not able to reproduce during the process, the judge wondered if this meant that older heterosexual couples should be prohibited from marrying.

According to experts, it was largely due to Ginzburg's intransigence and bold judgments that the case received such a huge response, and the court ultimately supported the LGBT community — 5 votes against 4.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Legendary judge and rights activist was 87

In 2018, Ruth, as a senior member of the Supreme Court, for the first time in 25 years in office, chose which of her colleagues would express the majority opinion during another landmark trial — Sessions v.Dimaya. The court's decision allegedly prevented the deportation of hundreds of migrants.

James Dimaya is a native of the Philippines who legally immigrated to the United States in 1992 at the age of 13 and was convicted of two robberies in 2007 and 2009. According to the Immigration and Nationality Act, his actions met the definition of a «serious crime» — and were sufficient grounds for deportation. However, the Supreme Court ruled in Dimaya's favor, ruling that the wording was too lengthy to address nonviolent crime.

The decisive one, to everyone's surprise, was the voice of Neil Gorsach, nominated for the office by President Trump and still distinguished by rather conservative views. He supported Ginsburg and three of her colleagues, noting that «extensive laws give rise to despotism.»

On Monday, January 7, 2019, Bader-Ginsburg missed a Supreme Court hearing for the first time in 25 years without showing up the next day. An official said she is still recovering from lung cancer removal and is working from home. According to the statement, the judge did not show any signs of illness.

Ruth had previously had cancerous tumors removed twice — in 1999 and 2009. Despite the operations, Ginzburg did not miss a single meeting. In November 2018, the judge broke three ribs in a fall in her office, but returned to work almost instantly.

“Although I have witnessed wonderful changes in the position of women in society,” Ginsburg wrote in her column for the New York Times in 2016, “it must be remembered that the situation is still far from perfect. Most of the poor in America and the world are women and children. Women, both here and abroad, continue to receive less than men, despite the same education and experience. Our workplaces still fall short of the needs of pregnant women and mothers. We still have not found an effective way to combat gender discrimination in the workplace and domestic violence. But I am still optimistic and believe: we will continue to fight for the rights and potential of everyone who is touched by the words «We, the people of the United States.»

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