When There Are Nine: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Life and Legacy

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday, Sept. 18. She was somewhat of a household name, well known for her fair mind, legal power and avid feminism. She wrote the book on women’s rights with her brief of “Reed vs. Reed” — the case that argued women are protected under the 14th Amendment and granted equal rights in the court of law. She tirelessly fought for 87 years to ensure that all people were represented and protected by the law. Now, her Supreme Court seat is empty.

As such an important member of the history of our country, it’s important to understand just how big of an impact she made, so here is a timeline of her most powerful dissents and achievements:

While she was always known to be the petite 5’1 with mousy hair, adorned in her signature collar and delicate string of pearls, Ruth Bader Ginsburg packed a punch. Affectionately nicknamed “Notorious RBG,” Ginsburg not only advocated for equality but built herself a brand by being respected and admired by American citizens. After learning anything about her, it is impossible not to adore her. This political icon has songs written about her, a Tumblr account she ran herself, countless bobbleheads, clothes and, of course, a guide by her personal trainer about how to achieve the “Ginsburg body.”

As a pop culture icon, it’s not uncommon to see her featured in your favorite topical TV shows like “Saturday Night Live,” “Last Week Tonight” and two biographical documentaries. Each feature carried a common joke: Ginsburg had better stay alive until the end of this presidency.

Ginsburg made it clear in a number of ways that she did not approve of President Trump — from wearing her mourning dissent collar after his inauguration to making disparaging comments about him on Twitter (which she later apologized for). Her empty spot in the Supreme Court means that Donald Trump will likely appoint the third Supreme Court justice in his term. The second was the controversial Brett Kavanaugh, who gave the court a 5-4 conservative majority in most cases. 

According to NPR, in the week before she died, Ginsburg told her granddaughter that her “most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” Despite this, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Trump himself have made it clear they would like to fill her seat. During a similar scenario in Obama’s presidency, McConnell blocked the selection of a new justice for 11 months, claiming the American people should be allowed to have their votes speak for the kind of person they wanted in court. Now he seems to be singing a very different tune.

Although Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death is incredibly intertwined with politics, her life’s work was what got her to the Supreme Court in the first place.

The Notorious RBG created the world we know for women today. When she began her path to success by earning her law degree from Harvard, there were only nine women in her class of 500. She eventually transferred to Columbia and graduated at the top of her class. Even though her resume was bursting with academic achievements and prowess, she had to work twice as hard to land a job at a law firm. Being a woman was shocking enough to law firms, but she was also a mother, which made most law firms consider her a risk they weren’t willing to take. 

After working three years as a clerk for Judge Edmund Palmieri, Ginsburg landed a teaching job at Rutgers Law School. While she loved teaching, she was not free from discrimination here either. At one point, she wore her mother-in-law’s oversized clothes to hide her pregnancy. Now, this would be seen as strange, but in 1963, it was the only way to get her contract renewed. The job she worked so hard to secure paid her far less than any man working the same amount, but she had no bargaining room in the political climate of that day. She was one of only 20 female law professors in all of the US that was on track for tenure. 

In 1971, Ginsburg wrote her first Supreme Court brief for the case “Reed vs. Reed” — the case that led the Supreme Court to strike down a law for the first time in history because the law discriminated against women. From there, she only went on to break more boundaries and champion feminist causes. As a justice, she famously replaced the word “gender” with “sex” anytime that topic was relevant in her decision making. This was not a woman who would water herself down for the comfort of any man.

Throughout her life, she constantly defied stereotypes. Her husband Marty Ginsburg joked about her inedible cooking, saying he learned to master the kitchen. Ruth’s friends published a posthumous cookbook for Marty, entitled “Chef Supreme.” He lobbied for her as she fought to become appointed by Bill Clinton.

Eventually, she was. In the Senate, she was confirmed with a 96-3 vote. The Supreme Court became her life, but she was able to separate politics from people and the court’s conservative icon Antonin Scalia became one of her closest friends. The odd pair tended to attract a lot of media attention. So much so that there was actually an opera created based on their friendship. 

The two frequently disagreed. This is not surprising, considering that Ginsburg’s confidence only seemed to grow as time went on. More and more frequently she began to dissent (or vote against) motions, most assertively on those that involved matters of women’s rights.

She knew that the fight for gender equality would be long and arduous, and she knew she may not see the end of it in her lifetime. She acknowledged that the road to gender equality is not a short one and that it will be full of opposition, interrogation and painstakingly hard work. Her support of the #MeToo movement and the times she has spoken out for equal pay have shown that she knows there is much more to be done.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg had struggled with various health issues for a long time, fighting off cancer a total of four times before she succumbed to pancreatic cancer this past Friday. She was always a strong woman, and not just in her health. She had to fight against sexism that we cannot imagine today and the reason we typically do not have to experience it is largely because of her success. Case after case, she took what she saw to be unjust, and made real change. 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was best summarized by her own quote: “I’m sometimes asked ‘When will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court]?’ And my answer is: ‘When there are nine.’ People are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”