Remembering the Legendary Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Her Enduring Commitment to Equality
The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was remembered during a special ceremony at the Supreme Court on Friday, as colleagues, law clerks, and legal luminaries paid tribute to the champion for women’s rights.[0] Ginsburg, who died of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87, was a civil rights lawyer and jurist whose career was legendary before she took the bench.[1] Her “enduring commitment” to the everyday American was praised by Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, a former clerk, who called the justice’s work the “stuff of legend.”
Justice Roberts noted Justice Ginsburg's commitment to equity and declared that she “changed our country profoundly for the better.”[2] Merrick Garland, the Attorney General, remarked that her opinions were “concise and elegant.”[2] However, the current conservative majority, including Ginsburg’s replacement, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is working expeditiously to reverse much of what Ginsburg stood for in areas such as reproductive health, voting rights, affirmative action, administrative law and religious liberty.[2] In the past few months, the court has seen its approval ratings plummet amid claims that it has become irreparably political, and relationships between justices have frayed in public over debates concerning the court’s legitimacy.[3]
Ginsburg’s death allowed then-President Donald Trump to replace the liberal icon with a conservative justice, moving the high court to the right.[1] Her words “You have tossed entirely to the wind what Congress thought was essential, that is that women be provided these services with no hassles, no cost to them,” still echo in the nation’s conscience.[2] After her death — less than seven weeks before Election Day — then-President Donald Trump praised her while pushing through the nomination of a candidate believed to be Ginsburg’s ideological opposite in many areas: Justice Amy Coney Barrett.[2] While conservatives celebrate the Supreme Court's new session, others lament the undoing of Justice Ginsburg's legacy.[2] Her legacy will remain alive in the hearts of many and her words will continue to inspire generations to come.
0. “US Supreme Court honours former justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg” Al Jazeera English, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/17/us-supreme-court-honours-former-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg
1. “SCOTUS to Honor Ginsburg | Top Video | nbcrightnow.com” NBC Right Now, 18 Mar. 2023, https://www.nbcrightnow.com/top_video/scotus-to-honor-ginsburg/video_664042c6-571d-5fe1-a18f-0ecfc0640990.html
2. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg is honored at a Supreme Court she wouldn't recognize | News Channel 3-12” KEYT, 18 Mar. 2023, https://keyt.com/news/2023/03/18/ruth-bader-ginsburg-is-honored-at-a-supreme-court-she-wouldnt-recognize/
3. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg is honored at a Supreme Court she wouldn't recognize” erienewsnow.com, 18 Mar. 2023, https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/48571021/ruth-bader-ginsburg-is-honored-at-a-supreme-court-she-wouldnt-recognize
