Ruth Ginsburg worked her entire career to eliminate gender-based stereotyping in legislation and regulations. Appointed as the Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court by President William Clinton in 1993, she was the second woman to ever sit on the bench of the US Supreme Court in its 212 year history.
After graduating from Cornell University in 1954 with highest honors in government, Justice Bader Ginsburg attended Harvard Law School and Columbia Law School, making Law Review in both and graduating at the top of the class at Columbia. Despite these excellent academic credentials, Bader Ginsburg had difficulty finding a job in the male-dominated law profession. She began her career by serving a clerkship in the United States District Court of Appeals in New York, continued by teaching at Rutgers University School of Law, and then at Columbia Law School, where she became the school’s first tenured female professor.
Bader Ginsburg co-founded the Women's Rights Law Reporter in 1970, the first U.S. law journal to focus exclusively on women's rights. In 1971, she helped write the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brief in Reed vs. Reed, a case argued before the Supreme Court that involved discrimination against women in awarding the administration of a child’s estate. The next year, she co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the ACLU, once again making sure women's voices were heard in law.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, She served in this position until she was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 to become the second female Supreme Court justice ever, a position she held until her death and that she used to advocate for women's rights.
Justice Ginsburg became known for her scholarly, balanced opinions and personal courage. A cancer survivor herself, she assisted thousands by her example of frank discussion of the state of her health and early diagnosis.
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