Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Supreme Court Justice, Champion of Women

Intro this video is brought to you by Squarespace the all-in-one platform where entrepreneurs can easily create and customize their own personal and professional website more on Squarespace later in the video Welcome Back to biographics I'm your host Cosmic cor madman Eric Malachite and today's protagonist is none other than Ruth Bader Ginsburg the second woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court written by James CJ if James has provided links to us they'll be linked alongside my own with that said let's go ahead and dive into it shall we when it comes to the Supreme Court many names remain etched in the United States's highest court history books still perhaps none are as giant as that of Ruth Bader Ginsburg the second female Justice to ever serve on the Supreme Court despite her petite stature and size RGB remains a giant in the legal world even in the Years following her death her l see something that is still being reckoned with today is undeniable for over five decades Ginsburg defied the odds fighting inequality wherever she found it regardless of whether it was her personal life or the cases she handled she changed the world in more ways than one might imagine and gained a reputation for being one of the sharpest judges on the bench there's so much to tell when considering the Life and Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg But ultimately we must start where we typically do at the Early Life [Music] beginning on March 15th 1933 Joan Ruth Bader was born in Brooklyn NYC at Beth Moses hospital as the second daughter of Nathan and Celia Bader Ruth grew up in a Jewish household in Flatbush NYC throughout her life ginsburg's relationship with Judaism was something of discussion while her extended family was not devout her immediate family was far more involved in religion and attended a conservative synagogue East Midwood Jewish Center the young Bader family experienced tragedy early on when Ruth's older sister Marilyn died at the age of six after getting sick with menitis Ginsburg was only 14 months old at the time and as a result had no actual memory of her sister with a passing of her sister Ruth began to get her mom's sole attention and she gave her all of it especially regarding her education when her mother discovered that her class had several Joann's she made everyone refer to her by her second name to avoid confusion and it stuck causing the Joanne and her name to become almost obsolete much of Celia's attention to Ruth's education stemmed from Celia being a good student in her youth who could not progress academically due to her family choosing to send her brother to college instead of her a future she wanted for her daughter Celia wanted her daughter to become a high school history teacher while she did not become one she would attend college following her time at James Madison High School where she remained an excellent student finishing at 17 but before she graduated tragedy struck the family again when Celia who' been battling with cancer throughout Ruth's time in high school eventually succumbed to the disease 2 days before Ruth was set to graduate on June 27th 1950 Ruth did exceptionally well in high school thanks to her mother's unwavering support encouragement and determination for her daughter's success she achieved prestigious college scholarships was a baton twirler and played in the school orchestra sadly Celia would never see the mountains her daughter would come to Ruth and Martin move Celia's death hit the Bader household like a ton of bricks by the end of the summer of 1950 Ruth and her father moved from their home in Flatbush Nathan Bader's emotional state was decrepit only worsened by the economic collapse he was enduring both of which took years to recover his financial woses had been a recurring theme throughout his adult life having lived his early family man years raising a child during the Great Depression and struggling to earn a paycheck as a result of the times this didn't improve with time especially as tragedy struck the Bader family twice with both Marilyn and Celia's death sending Nathan into a deep depression for Ruth life continued despite the tragedy Celia had saved roughly $8,000 before her death to help pay for Ruth's University fees like R and Bor some of the money Ruth put aside for her father to ensure he'd survive until he got back on his feet thankfully the hard work she'd shown in high school more than paid off in the form of a scholarship to attend Cornell Ruth was set to start at Cornell University one of the colleges she'd been granted a scholarship to meaning most of her University was covered it was at Cornell that Ruth at the age of 17 met the man she'd call her husband Martin Ginsburg they met on a blind date in 1950 Martin was taken by not only her beauty but her intelligence and that was something that Ruth loved eventually they'd start dating unable to deny the feelings they both felt for one another the two would get married a mere month after Ruth's graduation in June 1954 Ruth earned a ba in government and succeeded at Cornell overall being the top ranked woman in her graduating class and a member of the FI Beta Kappa Honor Society her time at Cornell with Martin made the two determin to become lawyers now that they were married they were in it together not that it was going to be without its challenges since Martin was a year ahead of Ruth he went on to Harvard but this was interrupted when he was called in for military service it was the time of the Korean War and many Americans were called on to serve their time in the military the couple moved from NYC to Fort Sil Oklahoma while Martin was stationed as a called up active duty rrad on the other hand Ruth worked for the Social Security Administration office she was demoted during her time there when she became president pregnant with a couple's first child Ruth was 21 at the time on July 21st 1955 Ruth and Martin welcomed their first child Jane Carol Ginsburg into the 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during her time at Harvard Ruth and the other female law students would be invited to Griswalds home for dinners where he'd ask them categorically why they'd come to Harvard taking the place of a man his qualms about it weren't wer made any better because the new Harvard Law student wore a skirt and in the case of Ruth had a 14-month-old baby in toe however it's important to note that in retrospect Griswald claimed he was merely trying to learn more about the female students and their stories whether or not his questions and beliefs were sexist is debatable in case you were wondering ginsburg's response was about her husband being in the second year class and thinking it's important for a wife to know her husband's work this wasn't fully her belief but more her way of trying to say something anything that wasn't too confrontational the truth she wanted a legal education to make a difference for women and all groups facing inequities but Ruth wouldn't get the chance to complete her Harvard law degree because she transferred to Colombia when Martin Ginsburg was offered a job in New York City initially she attempted to complete the third year of her Harvard degree at Colombia but Griswald denied her request a result of this transfer made Ginsburg the first woman to feature in two major law reviews The Harvard Law review and the Colombia law review her time at Colombia was yet another story of success she tied for first in her class and graduated in 1959 of course this wasn't going to translate into early success despite her achievement as one of the top students at Colombia Ginsburg was not offered a job by any of the 12 firms that interviewed her Ruth suspected this was likely due to her gender religion and status as a mother to a young daughter luckily she had strong recommendations and Colombia professors advocating for Ruth to be hired Ruth was turned down by then Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter despite a glowing recommendation from Albert Martin Sachs a professor from Harvard she would gain a clerkship for judge Edmund L Palmieri with the assistance of Professor Gerald Gunther one of her Columbia professors he assured palmier that should she suddenly leave the position a possibility considering Martin Ginsburg was in remission for testicular cancer Colombia would Aid in finding a suitable replacement Ruth remained in the position for 2 years from 1959 to 1961 Ruth returned to Colombia in 1961 to work as a research associate for the international procedure project during this time she learned Swedish traveled to Sweden and even co-authored a book on Swedish civil procedure her time in Sweden profoundly impacted Ruth's understanding of women and how they could have legal positions different from those in the US she'd take these lessons back home with her starting her fight against clear gender discrimination in the US in 1963 following her time at Colombia Ginsburg became a professor at Rutter's law school at the time Ruth was one of the few women teaching law with fewer than 20 contemporaries in the country she was paid less than the male professors being told that it was due to her husband having a very good job despite this she remained in that position from 1963 to 1972 teaching civil procedure she then became a professor at Columbia from 1972 to 1980 Ruth became the first tenured woman in Colombia's history and co-authored a case book on sex discrimination which was a first of its kind while working as a professor at Colombia Ginsburg was also working for the nonprofit human rights organization the American civil liberties Union or ACLU has a council on the woman wom's rights project a pivotal time in her career in the fight for gender equality somehow during all this time she also spent a year at Stanford University from 1977 to 1978 as a fellow at the center for advanced study in the behavioral sciences undeniably she had a strong work ethic tested in a critical decade in ginsburg's life and she faced the issu she cared about most inequality Womens Rights Ruth co-founded the women's rights project at the ACLU in 1971 and became its General Council in 1973 by 1974 alone the women's rights project had participated in over 300 gender discrimination cases before The Supreme Court RBG represented six of the cases although she worked in various roles on some 60 cases of the six she represented she won five between 1973 and 1976 ginsburg's approach to women's rights didn't seek to change the entire Paradigm overnight knowing that this would backfire instead she sought smaller victories targeting specific injustices and building on those successes she spoke about how gender discrimination hurts men to include them in a conversation and trial the strategy was aided by rbg's unique ability to choose the right words and articulate her points a result of her work led to the end of numerous examples of gender discrimination throughout multiple areas of law during her time with the ACLU some of the cases she was involved with for the women's rights project included frontio V Richardson which challenged an existing statute that made it more difficult for a female service member to claim increased housing allowance for her husband than if a male service member did the same for his wife she won the case in Weinberg V weisenfeld Ginsburg argued for a widower who was being denied survivor benefits under Social Security the law permitted widows to collect special benefits When caring for minor children but this did not extend to widowers Ginsburg argued that the law discriminated against male survivors and she won a major case for Ginsburg was roie Wade a case whose name is still evoked today this Victory became a large part of ginsburg's Legacy having enshrined the rights to abortion across the US for over five decades roie Wade was a case about abortion but framed in the means of privacy gin Berg would later state that the issue should have been framed as equal protection her belief was that the country may have understood why the Constitution protected abortion if it was framed this way it was decided in 1973 with a court citing with the right to privacy therefore enshrining abortion rights as the law of the land this lasted just over five decades it's no surprise that many Advocates and legal Scholars credit the work of RBG and the ACLU as helping make significant legal advances for women under the equal protection Clause of the Constitution the legal victories not only changed the law for the better but they discouraged legislators around the country from treating both men and women differently under the law Ginsburg would continue her work with the ACLU in Colombia until a higher calling would pull her away the US court of US Court of Appeals appeals during the 1970s there was a clear and present problem in the US the federal judiciary was experiencing a significant backlog and it was only getting worse to help fix a broken system Congress passed a substantial and essential Bill known as the Omnibus judgeship Act of 1978 increasing the number of federal judges by7 for district courts and 35 for circuit courts in line with President Jimmy Carter's Vision in the changing Nation the bill emphasized judges including women in minority groups to help balance a male-dominated Jud Judiciary Ginsburg was a fellow at Stanford at the time at the time Martin was a visiting professor at Stanford seeking a tenure position he was ready to leave his firm behind he also promoted the idea of being a judge to his wife and hopes she'd consider by January 1979 Ruth had completed two questionnaires for potential nominees to the US court of appeals and second circuit and one for the District of Colombia circuit finally on April 14th 1980 Ginsburg was officially nominated to the district of Colombia circuit her confirmation took place soon after and she was confirmed by mid June she served roughly 13 years on the District of Colombia circuit on June 14th 1993 history was made when Bill Clinton announced his pick for the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg at this point she was the second woman to ever be nominated to the bench and the first Jewish woman her record as a DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge proved Ginsburg was worthy of the nomination having gained a reputation as a restrained and fair-minded judge who did her homework and then some her confirmation process was Swift moving within a matter of months and she came out on top with 96 Senators approving her confirmation and only three voting against it on August 3rd 1993 come the end of the year she would begin her nearly three decades on the Supreme Court and a career in being at the center of many landmark cases the courts would hear during that time Becoming a Supreme Court Justice on the 10th of August Ginsburg took her judicial oath and began her work at the highest court in the land setting off a nearly 30-year stint on the bench in 1999 Ginsburg was hospitalized with colon cancer she underwent surgery and managed to pull through she was 66 at the time for the first 13 years on the bench Ginsburg was one of two women on the Supreme Court along with the first woman to become a Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day o Conor when oconor retired in 2006 Ginsburg was the Lone woman until the appointment of Justice son Soto Meer in 2009 and Justice Elena Kagan in 2010 many of the ways Ginsburg had operated as a judge in the past remained true in the present she was cautious about her legal decisions and sought to build unprecedent rather than pursuing her vision of the Constitution regarding her relationships on the court Ginsburg grew to become close friends with Justice antonine Scalia whom she'd worked with in the DC circuit court before his appointment to the Supreme Court despite having very different ideologies the pair bonded over good food and wine Opera their childhoods in NYC and even vacations together to sum up their friendship Scalia said this in an interview with Ginsburg what's not to like except her views on the law of course like many judges and justices Ginsburg resided on numerous high-profile and landmark cases during her tenure her calm thoughtful and respectful approach to the law created many instances in which the United States is better off due to these decisions at the same time it's true that for Ruth Bader Ginsburg progress didn't go nearly as far as she wanted she knew that it came down to the courts as they stood this would factor into choices Ginsburg would make in her final decade that had major implications on the future of the Supreme Court and the American legal system Refusing to Retire in 2010 Justice John Paul Stevens retired making Ginsburg the oldest Justice on the bench in the Court's liberal Wing Ruth due to her seniority was given the authority to assign dissenting opinions when the court lost its liberal leaning majority it was around this time that there began a heavy push for Ginsburg to consider retiring still she made it clear that year and throughout the coming decade that she had no intention of stepping down from her position on the Supreme Court despite the growing calls to do so especially during the second term of the Obama presidency considering the state of Ruth's health and the tragedy that was coming her way many believe this was the wrong and perhaps selfish decision to make in the decade that followed 2010 ginsburg's life had numerous personal setbacks that many deemed worthy of a reason for her to vacate the position of the Supreme Court for starters in 2010 the tragic news of Martin ginsburg's passing was announced on the final day of the Supreme Court term Martin had been battling cancer once again and this time at the age of 78 he lost the battle passing away on June 27th 2010 in 2019 Ruth had yet another cancer scare when she underwent treatment for a malignant tumor that was discovered on her pancreas this was the same spot where she had cancer in 1999 a statement issued by the Supreme Court stated that the tumor was treated definitively and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body for many it was a a stark reminder of ginsburg's defiance to vacate her appointment to the bench the great challenge for Ginsburg was holding on to something that would never materialize in her lifetime a more Progressive court and a progressive replacement Decades of Republican presidents had meant the courts were packed with conservative judges Ginsburg wanted the Supreme Court to expand the rights of all the people further to make the country fairer she made progress in that fight throughout her career and Ruth hoped her replacement would be someone that could continue that fight and I guess this provides some insight into what drove her decision not to retire sooner it's been theorized that Ginsburg intended to wait out the 2016 election in hopes that Clinton would win the presidency and nominate a more liberal Justice to replace her than Obama might have if he had been given the chance or perhaps she wanted her replacement to be the nominee of the first female president she had made comments regarding Obama not showing the drive to nominate a Justice with a and I quote stiffer spine for Progressive battles when Trump won she likely attempted to hold on as long as possible to the end of his term hoping he would fail in winning reelection of course she held on as long as she could it just wasn't long Legacy enough the legacy of RBG is undeniable her time on the Supreme Court had immense consequences for the current state of the US however her final personal decisions had their own consequences in 2010 Ginsburg was aging facing poor health and still mourning her husband speculation of her retirement was considered almost inevitable but Ginsburg poured cold water on these rumors and actual suggestions from liberals and Congressional Democrats RGB refused stating that her work on the court was helping with the grief of losing her husband she continued to work on the Supreme Court until September 18th 2020 when she passed away at 87 following complications with pancreatic cancer Ginsburg was given a state funeral in layan state at the US capital following 2 Days in Repose in the Supreme Court rbg's Legacy was on full display as thousands came lit candles and left messages and flowers for the Fallen Justice she was the first woman and first person of Jewish faith to lie in state therein at the capital finally RBG was laid to rest beside Martin Ginsburg at Arlington National Cemetery ginsburg's death laid the groundwork for then president Donald Trump to name her successor Amy Cony Barrett providing enough conservative votes to do away with roie Wade in June 2022 her decision to remain on the bench minant the woman who achieved so much for women's rights also bear some responsibility for allowing those RS to be rolled back that's the Legacy in tragedy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg well I certainly hope you enjoyed and found this video to be informative and if you did be sure to do all that algorithmic jazz and I'll see you next time space cowboy [Music]