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In the United States, the court system is where disputes, or disagreements, are settled.
The U.S. has two systems – the state system and the federal system. A dispute about a state’s law is heard by a state court judge (or jury) or by a justice of the state supreme court. A dispute about the U.S. Constitution or certain other matters is heard by a federal court judge or jury. A few disputes are heard by the highest federal court – the Supreme Court. While there are more than 250 state supreme court justices, there are only nine Supreme Court justices at the federal level. Ruth Bader Ginsburg became one of them.
▲ In 1980, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, attorney at law, became Judge Ginsburg. That was the year President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. (A court of appeals is just below the Supreme Court. The U.S. has 13 courts of appeals, or appellate courts.) Thirteen years later, President Bill Clinton (above left) appointed her to the Supreme Court. She was only the second woman in U.S. history to be on the Supreme Court. Here is part of what she said about her appointment:
I surely would not be in this room today without the determined efforts of men and women who kept dreams of equal citizenship alive in days when few would listen. People like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Harriet Tubman come to mind. I stand on the shoulders of those brave people.
▲ Cases at the Supreme Court are decided by majority opinion. Whether all the justices agree or only five agree, the decision is final. One justice is usually assigned to write the opinion, or decision, of the court. Here are a few of the cases in which Justice Ginsburg had an important role.
United States v. Virginia
In 1996, Justice Ginsburg wrote the opinion for a case known as United States v. Virginia. The case involved discrimination on the basis of gender. The defendant was the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), a public military college.
Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Justice Ginsburg did not always agree with the majority of justices on the court. But she was influential even when she didn’t. A case known as Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is an example.
Think Piece!
In what way could the Lilly Ledbetter case be an example of the balance of power among the three branches of government?
Share your ideas with others.
Shelby County v. Holder
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to protect people from decades of voting discrimination. The act had several sections. Section 5 prevented certain voting districts from changing their election laws unless they had federal approval. (Federal approval is also known as pre-clearance.) Section 4(b) described which districts needed pre-clearance. Shelby County, Alabama, was one of them. The county sued to get rid of the requirement. The case is known as Shelby County v. Holder. (Eric Holder Jr. was the attorney general at the time.)
The great man who led the march from Selma to Montgomery and there called for the passage of the Voting Rights Act foresaw progress, even in Alabama. ‘The arc of the moral universe is long,’ he said, but ‘it bends toward justice,’ if there is a steadfast commitment to see the task through to completion. That commitment has been disserved by today’s decision.
Think Piece!
As part of her dissent in the Shelby case, Justice Ginsburg wrote: “throwing out pre-clearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”
What do you think she meant?
▲ It happens rarely. Perhaps it’s never actually happened before. In her 80s, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not only a well-known and well-respected expert in the law. She had also become a pop culture icon. In 2013, New York University law student Shana Knizhnik was inspired by Justice Ginsburg’s defense in the Shelby case (see above). Knizhnik co-authored a book called Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The picture on the cover – a take-off on the well-known rapper Notorious B.I.G. – went viral. And so did the nickname.
◀ Shana Knizhnik’s nickname for Justice Ginsburg, Notorious RBG, was just the beginning of her pop culture fame. Before long there were t-shirts, necklaces, face masks, mugs, notebooks, earrings, a bobblehead doll, and more. All with Justice Ginsburg’s likeness. Soon, she herself participated in her public reputation. In 2016, she took to the stage in The Daughter of the Regiment, an Italian opera (far left). And in 2017, she and Justice Antonin Scalia, another opera fan on the court, were actually the subjects of an opera.
Judges and justices wear black robes. When Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed, she added a jabot, or decorative collar, to her robe. She told the Washington Post: “You know, the standard robe is made for a man because it has a place for the shirt to show, and the tie. . . . So Sandra Day O’Connor [the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court] and I thought it would be appropriate if we included as part of our robe something typical of a woman.” When Justice Ginsburg decided with the majority in a case, she often wore a gold and yellow sunburst jabot. When she dissented, she often wore a bejeweled jabot. Her likeness on a 2023 U.S. postage stamp includes one of her jabots, of course. ▶
◀ Justice Ginsburg has the been the subject of several movies and multiple books. One of the books is an illustrated description of her twice-weekly hour-long workout. The workout included squats, modified push-ups, planks, and more. In 2020, when Justice Ginsburg passed away, her trainer, Bryant Johnson, did several push-ups as she lay in state at the U.S. Capitol. Lying in state is an honor reserved for presidents and some members of Congress, military commanders, and Supreme Court justices. Justice Ginsburg was the first woman granted such an honor.
▲ Equality Now is an organization whose mission is wholly aligned with Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life work and career. Partnering with an international network of lawyers, activists, and supporters, Equality Now works to protect the human rights of women and girls, using the power of the law to dismantle discrimination and inequality. The organization tirelessly advocates for progressive laws that respect and advance the rights of women and girls. Among its many successes, are the 50+ sex discriminatory laws that Equality Now and its partners have changed.
