Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born Joan Ruth Bader in Brooklyn, New York March 15, 1933. She attended James Madison High School and received her B.A. from Cornell University, attended Harvard Law School, and received her LL.B from Columbia Law School. Ginsburg is a current Supreme Court Justice.
Ginsburg served as a law clerk to Judge Edmund L. Palmieri of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1959-1961. She became the associate director of a comparative law project sponsored by Columbia University which required her to study the Swedish legal system. In 1963 Ginsburg joined the faculty of Rutgers Law School in Newark, New Jersey. In 1972 she was hired by Columbia Law School, where she taught until 1980.
In the 1970s Ginsburg litigated sex discrimination cases for the American Civil Liberties Union and was instrumental in launching its Women’s Rights Project in 1973. She also served on the National Board of Directors from 1974-1980. Ginsburg served as a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California from 1977-1978. President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980. On June 14, 1993 Ginsburg accepted President Bill Clinton’s nomination to the Supreme Court and took her seat on August 10, 1993.
Ginsburg has been a pioneer for gender equality throughout her distinguished career. Ruth has claim to many achievements, and she was far from alone in her pursuits. She received much support from talented, dedicated women throughout her career. Ruth served as the director and co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union during the 1970s. She continued to argue for gender equality in such cases as United States v. Virginia.
Celia Bader provided a very strong role model for her Ruth from an early age. Ginsburg recalls her mother telling her two things constantly, one was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent. The study of law was unusual for women of Ginsburg’s generation. “For most girls growing up in the '40s, the most important degree was not your B.A., but your M.R.S.” Ruth has said “Women's rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda, trained on the equal dignity and ability to live in freedom all people should enjoy” and this is why we need RBG.
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