Deceased less than a month ago, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the best known (and oldest) US Supreme Court Justice of all time. She has distinguished herself over the years for her battles on equal rights between men and women and in the fight against discrimination. Her passing left a great void in the Supreme Court and among the common people who affectionately referred to her by the nickname of Notorious Rbg.
Her struggle for women has made her a symbol. It has inspired films and documentaries. Her image appears today on various t-shirts and gadgets.
Her career lasted fifty years. She struggled to find work after graduating from Harvard (in a class of 500 she was one of nine girls who managed to graduate), became a lawyer when women were absolutely not welcome in the legal profession. The daughter of Jewish parents of Russian origin, she was born in Brooklyn in 1933.
She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Justice in 1993 by President Bill Clinton and her nomination to the Senate was approved with 96 out of 100 votes available. After Sandra Day O’Connor, she was the second woman in American history to serve on the Supreme Court.
Before coming to the Supreme Court she was already known for her battles in the American Civil Liberties Union, the association for the protection of civil rights. Her greatest enlightenment was to use the 14th Amendment to the American Constitution which states that all citizens are equal before the law to put an end to discrimination and to sexist and racist laws.Among the many victories, she will be remembered above all for two fundamental votes: the one in which in 2015, in the United States, same-sex marriages were allowed and the vote in June 2020 that sanctioned discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation. Her “I disagree” will remain in history.
Before she died, she asked not to be replaced until the new president took office. Her political will had been left to her niece, Clara Spera. Her will was not respected by President Trump, despite having called her “a titan of the law” and putting the flags at half-mast in the White House.
