RBG: On the Passing of My Superhero
Sep 19, 2020
“When I'm sometimes asked 'When will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court]?' and I say 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that."
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you."
"I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks."
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.”
I am heartbroken over the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG. The Notorious RBG.
Not all superheroes wear capes. Some wear judicial robes and lacy dissent collars.
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Not all rock stars play guitar. Some argue monumental court cases, and then later, pen important court decisions.
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RBG was a trailblazer. A champion of women’s rights. A profound thinker. A fighter. A force, both in thought and physical stamina.
At just 5’1” tall, Justice Ginsburg was an incredible force. She was a young mother when she became one of only nine women in her entering class at Harvard Law School. When her husband Marty, a 3rd year law student at Harvard Law School, was diagnosed with testicular cancer and missed many of his classes for treatment, RBG attended both her classes and his classes. All while raising their first child.
When Marty took a job in New York City, she transferred to Columbia Law School. She was the first women to write on two law reviews: the Harvard Law Review and Columbia Law Review. And she graduated tied for first in her class.
It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been to law school just how incredible her law school accomplishments were. Attending her classes and Marty’s classes concurrently. Writing onto two different law reviews when all research was in books and all papers were typed on a typewriter. Graduating at the top of her class. All while caring for her infant daughter. Incredible is the only way I can describe it.
Before law school, she was demoted from her job at the Social Security Administration when she became pregnant. Because treating female workers differently was allowed in the workplace in the 1950’s.
Despite graduating top of her law school class from Columbia University, she could not find a job as an attorney because she was a woman. Because refusing to hire an overly qualified candidate just because she was a woman was allowed in the workplace in the 1960’s.
After serving a judicial clerkship, she landed her first position as a professor in 1963. Because RBG has a husband with a well-paying job, she was paid significantly less than her male counterparts. Because adjusting women’s salaries to account for their husband’s earning potential was allowed in the workplace in the 1960’s.
She was a truly champion of women’s rights. She argued and prevailed on a number of gender discrimination cases in the early 1970’s. She wrote the brief for Reed v. Reed, an Idaho case, in which the Supreme Court extended the protections of the Equal Protection Clause to women. Over the course of her esteemed legal career, she worked hard to ensure that the protections of the Equal Protection Clause extended to women.
Today, a woman can sign a mortgage or lease an apartment without a man’s signature. A woman can open a bank account or apply for a credit card with a man acting as co-signer. A woman can hold a job, even when pregnant, and after giving birth, she can return to her job. A woman can consent to her own medical treatment. A woman can play a sport in school. All thanks to the groundwork laid by RBG.
She will be remembered as “the great dissenter” on the Supreme Court because she understood the vital importance of civil discourse. She had a dear friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia, despite their ideological differences. She understood that you can disagree on important ideas without being disrespectful. It was not lost on her that there is more than one way to think about an issue. And just because a case is decided one way today, doesn’t mean that a future decision on different facts may apply the same law differently.
As I write this, it’s been just over 24 hours since her death. I am saddened that much of the conversation about Justice Ginsburg is now centered on who will replace her. She served on the United States Supreme Court for 27 years. She paved the way for gender equality and women’s rights in this country. Yet, instead of celebrating the monumental achievements of an incredible legal career, it was more important to many to turn the conversation to her replacement.
In 2016, when Justice Antonin Scalia died during an election year, his seat was left vacant for 9 months. It was the feeling of the Senate at that time that the will of the people should control, and that no successor should be named to the Court during an election year until after the election. And again, he died 9 months before the election.
Yet, Justice Ginsburg passed away on Friday evening. Instead of honoring her 27 years of service, and her contributions to the legal profession and advocating for women’s rights for years before that, the politicians are focused on replacing her as quickly as possible.
Justice Ginsburg passed away 24 hours ago, and the President and Majority Leader of the Senate are already scrambling to push through a vote on her replacement. During an election year. With Election Day just 44 days away.
Think about that. Justice Scalia’s seat was left empty for 9 months before an election. Justice Ginsburg could be replaced in just over a month's time.
I understand that's it all about politics. But that doesn't seem right to me on so many different levels.
We believe our superheroes will live forever. Mine did incredible work for women during her lifetime. Now, it’s time for us to take the baton and continue running the race and advancing the cause.
Thank you, RBG. Rest in power and peace.
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