U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died at the age of 87 from complications of metastatic pancreas cancer, the court announced in a statement on Sep. 18.
She was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court and had served for more than 27 years, making a mark as an advocate for gender equality, BBC reported.
U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts praised her, saying:
"Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”
Why is she considered an advocate for gender equality?
Ginsburg's career in the legal profession, prior to becoming a Supreme Court judge in 1993, was marked by experiences with blatant sexism and legal battles against gender discrimination, as noted by BBC and The New York Times.
In 1959, despite graduating at the top of her class in Columbia Law School, no law firms in New York offered to hire her on the grounds that she was "Jewish, a woman and a mother".
Then in 1971, she made her first successful argument in the U.S. Supreme Court, against a law in the U.S. state of Idaho, which gave preference to men over women for managing estates on the grounds that men were more familiar with business.
The following year, she co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and subsequently brought six more gender-discrimination cases against the Supreme Court and winning five of them, while serving as the organisation's general counsel.
In 1988, she stated that the American justices were largely ignorant of women, rather than hostile.
As per Ginsburg:
“The justices did not comprehend the differential treatment of men and women in jury selection and other legal contexts as in any sense burdensome to women. From a justice’s own situation in life and attendant perspective, his immediate reaction to a gender discrimination challenge would likely be: But I treat my wife and daughters so well, with such indulgence. To turn in a new direction, the court first had to gain an understanding that legislation apparently designed to benefit or protect women could have the opposite effect.”
This stance continued once she became a Supreme Court Justice, earning her celebrity status as "the Notorious RBG" among liberal Americans who admired her.
During this time, Ginsburg became well-known for her dissents in cases where she was in the minority of judges who voted against a Supreme Court ruling.
In one case where the nine-men Supreme Court voted to uphold a ban on a particular abortion method pertaining to late-stage pregnancy, by five to four, Ginsburg wrote in her dissent that the ruling "tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists," CNBC News reported.
She added: "The court deprives women of the right to make an autonomous choice, even at the expense of their safety. This way of thinking reflects ancient notions about women’s place in the family and under the Constitution — ideas that have long since been discredited.”
Tributes from American politicians
U.S. President Donald Trump, upon hearing of her passing for the first time, said:
"She just died? Wow. I didn't know that, you are telling me now for the first time. She led an amazing life, what else can you say? She was an amazing woman, whether you agreed or nor, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life. I'm actually sad to hear that. I'm sad to hear that. Thank you very much."
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democrat candidate for this year's U.S. presidential election, called Ginsburg an American hero.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who nominated her as Supreme Court Justice, also praised Ginsburg, highlighting her dissents in particular:
We deliver more stories to you on LinkedIn
Top Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images