Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a pioneering champion for gender equality, women’s rights, and civil rights. As a lawyer and Supreme Court Justice, she fought to eliminate legal discrimination based on sex, securing equal protection for both women and men under the law, and was a staunch defender of reproductive rights and civil liberties.
Key areas of her advocacy include:
- Gender Equality: As the director of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, she argued landmark cases in the 1970s against sex-based discrimination.
- Equal Protection: She successfully argued that the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause applies to gender.
- Reproductive Rights: She consistently defended a woman’s right to abortion and contraception.
- Individual Rights: As a Justice, she focused on protecting individuals against government overreach, particularly regarding civil liberties and the rights of defendants.
Known as the "Notorious RBG," she served on the Supreme Court from 1993 until 2020, solidifying her legacy as a defender of marginalized groups and a proponent of equality.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) was a preeminent champion for gender equality, civil rights, and equal justice under the law. Often referred to as the "Thurgood Marshall of the women’s movement," she dedicated her life to dismantling legal barriers that discriminated on the basis of sex.
- Gender Equality & Women's Rights: As a litigator for the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, which she co-founded, Ginsburg argued six landmark cases before the Supreme Court, winning five. She systematically challenged laws that assumed women were dependent on men or incapable of certain roles.
- Reproductive Rights: She was a steadfast defender of reproductive freedom, viewing it as essential to a woman’s autonomy and "equal citizenship stature".
- Voting Rights: In her later years on the Supreme Court, she became a powerful voice against voter suppression. Her 2013 dissent in Shelby County v. Holder is legendary for comparing the removal of voting protections to "throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet".
- Worker & Pay Equity: She championed the rights of workers to be free from discrimination, notably inspiring the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 through her dissent in a 2007 pay discrimination case.
Landmark Legal Victories
Ginsburg used a "step-by-step" incremental strategy to persuade an all-male judiciary that gender discrimination harmed everyone—men and women alike.
| Case | Year | Key Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Reed v. Reed | 1971 | First time the Supreme Court used the Equal Protection Clause to strike down a law that discriminated against women. |
| Frontiero v. Richardson | 1973 | Challenged military benefits that were automatically given to wives of male service members but denied to husbands of female members. |
| Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld | 1975 | Won Social Security survivor benefits for a widower, proving that sex-based laws hurt men as well. |
| United States v. Virginia | 1996 | As a Justice, she wrote the opinion striking down the male-only admissions policy at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). |
Beyond her legal work, she became a cultural and feminist icon, affectionately known as the "Notorious RBG," inspiring generations to "fight for the things that you care about".
Would you like to explore the specific legal strategies she used to win over conservative judges during the 1970s?