Ruth Bader Ginsburg - An Icon Gone But Not Forgotten

By Sachi Kulkarni

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The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on the 18th of September 2020, shook both

America and the world. In an already tumultuous time, with election day looming and

intense civil unrest, the death of an icon was devastating.

On the 14 th of June 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg to

replace the retiring Justice Byron White and she was endorsed unanimously by the

Senate Judiciary Committee. She was the second woman to sit on the Supreme

Court, and her work spanned many landmark cases, with a focus on gender equality

and women’s rights. Some of her notable cases were United States v. Virginia, a

case challenging the all-male admissions policy at the Virginia Military Institute; and

the more recent Obamacare contraceptive mandate, which allowed for the Trump

administration to make exemptions for employers with religious reasons from

complying with the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, who’s oral

arguments she participated in from a hospital bed (Ehrlich, 2020).

Yet, her career was much more than just the Supreme Court. During her studies at

Harvard Law School, her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and she became his

primary caregiver. While doing so, she also continued her studies, and even was the

first woman to serve on the editorial staff of the Harvard Law Review. With her

increasing interest in gender equality, she partnered with the American Civil Liberties

Union (ACLU), becoming the founding counsel of the Women’s Rights Project.

During the same decade, she argued before the Supreme Court 10 times

(Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020).

With the future of America looking bleak, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has

thrown a spanner into the works when it comes to the next Supreme Court Justice,

noting the controversy surrounding the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Her

final words, according to her granddaughter were, “My most fervent wish is that I will

not be replaced until a new president is installed.” The Republicans on Capitol Hill

have ignored this and begun an effort to find a new nominee to replace the Justice

before the looming election. Even with the GOP’s refusal to confirm Judge Merrick

Garland, President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, in 2016 due to the closeness

to the election date (Riotta, 2020). The controversy lies in what has been perceived

to be the hypocrisy of the Republicans at Capitol Hill, as they are bending the rules

based on their own agenda. According to many, it seen that they wish to hold a

confirmation process quicker, so they may have a more conservative nominated

majority sitting on the Court. This brings into question the division of Church and

State in the United States of America, with many landmark cases being tied to

religious and moral obligations instead of human rights. It is up to America to call for

justice, because RBG would not wish for them to be silent.