The Notorious R.B.G.

Hello All,

One of my greatest heroes has died – actually she is many women’s hero and idol – a true icon. A woman who was a role model of courage, conviction and commitment.  A champion for “equal means the same” – for women, for the LGBTQ community, for the disabled. A true giant wrapped in a tiny frame. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Notorious R.B.G.

Abbe Gluck, Yale Law School Professor and former clerk of Justice Ginsburg said this – “For women, she was the most important legal advocate in American history. She changed the way the law sees ‘gender’. The United States Supreme Court did not even recognize that the constitution prohibits discrimination based on gender until 1971  – and that’s Justice Ginsburg’s case.”

Many of the rights women enjoy today is because of this incredible woman. It is almost difficult to believe that it has only been the last 49 years that women can: cut a man’s hair, serve on a jury, have equal rights to military housing allowances, hold a credit card in her own name (AND without having it cosigned by a father or spouse!), buy property in her own name, have an individual bank account, get the same social security benefits as a man, legally drink beer at the same age as a man! R.B.G. also was the deciding vote to allow same sex marriages. It is amazing to me that I have lived through the times in which all of this occurred. It is also makes me even more in awe of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

She began her journey in law in 1956 by pursuing her law degree at Harvard. She was one of nine women out of a class of 500. She had to actually defend being in the law school to the dean – for “taking up seats that men should have.” (Wouldn’t you love to talk to that dean today!) She graduated in 1959, but couldn’t find a clerkship because she was a woman.

She took a job as Associate Director for Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure – only the second woman to hold this role. She actually learned Swedish and moved to Sweden and wrote a book on Civil Procedures in Sweden. It was reported that her eyes were opened then, seeing a culture where women were judges, where pregnant women worked without prejudice, and where child care was considered essential.

R.B.G. was hired by Rutgers Law School – where she was paid less than her male counterparts because she had a husband. In 1972, she became the co-founder and co-director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Projects. There she began the work of getting many cases overthrown that discriminated based on gender. Her work lead to the extension of the 14th amendment barring laws that discriminated by gender. She argued six cases in front of the United States Supreme Court – and won five of them.

She was appointed to the Appellate Court by President Jimmy Carter. And in 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Supreme Court of the United States. (He was told by Hillary that he should interview her!) R.B.G. was the second woman and the first Jewish person appointed to this grand Court.

Her incredible body of work speaks for her. Her legal briefs have been described as “tight, direct and lacked legal jargon so everyone could understand.” One of her important Supreme Court cases was actually a Virginia case! In 1996, the case was the United States vs. Virginia (actually the Virginia Military Institute). It was ruled unconstitutional for schools funded by taxpayers dollars to bar the admission of women.

There are so many incredible stories about R.B.G. Her deep friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia, literally her ideological opposite. She once said “I disagree with most of what he said, but I loved the way he said it.” She hid her pregnancy by wearing her mother-in-law’s clothes until after she received tenure so she wouldn’t lose her job. (She had already lost one job secondary to her pregnancy.) And the story that I just love is about one of her secretaries. I am going to paraphrase this story rather than give actual quotes. The secretary was typing one of R.B.G.’s legal briefs when she called R.B.G. over. She is reported to have said the word sex was used too many times – and since R.B.G. was presenting to all men, perhaps that she would not want that word to be “on their minds”. “Gender equality” was born!

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was married to the love of her life, Martin “Marty” Ginsburg. They were committed and supported each other. When Marty was diagnosed with testicular cancer, she went to his classes and took notes for him so he could keep up…..while also attending her own classes and caring for their daughter. He supported her through multiple health issues. After his death, she said “If you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person has needs. I had a life partner who thought my work was as important as his, and I think that made all the difference to me.” They were true partners in the adventure of life.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the first woman and the first Jewish person to ever lie in state in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol.  She will be guarded by five guards – representing the five branches of the Armed Forces.  This rare honor is both appropriate and deserved for a woman who bravely defended the rights of so many!

Here is an excerpt from the 2016 op-ed “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Advice for Living”:

“Yet one must acknowledge the still bleak part of the picture. Most people living in poverty in the United States and the world over are women and children, women’s earnings here and abroad trail the earnings of men with comparable education and experience, our workplaces do not adequately accommodate the demands of childbearing and childrearing, and we have yet to devise effective ways to ward off sexual harassment at work and domestic violence at home. I am optimistic, however, that movement towards an enlistment of the talent of all who comprise ‘We, the people” will continue.”

These words ring as true in 2020 as they did in 2016 – though R.B.G. made huge improvements! In honor of and because of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we will not accept what we cannot change – we will change what we cannot accept.

Rest in peace, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. You have fought the good fight and made a lasting impact for and on all of us. We will pick up the torch and carry on.

Phyl

P.S. I know this is a long blog! Have added many of her wonderful quotes below:

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”

“Women belong in all places where decisions are made.”

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

“So now the perception is, yes, women are here to stay. And when I’m sometimes asked when will there enough [women on the Supreme Court]? And I say when there are nine, people are shocked. But there have been nine men and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”

“I didn’t change the constitution; the equality principle was there from the start. I just was an advocate for seeing its full realization.”

“You can disagree without being disagreeable.”