Columbia Law Review In Memoriam: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Contributors

  1. Z. Payvand Ahdout
  2. Ginger D. Anders
  3. Benjamin Beaton
  4. Stephen G. Breyer
  5. Hillary Rodham Clinton
  6. Brenda Feigen
  7. Robert A. Katzmann
  8. Goodwin Liu
  9. John B. Owens
  10. Kathleen Peratis
  11. John G. Roberts, Jr.
  12. Susan Deller Ross
  13. William Savitt
  14. David M. Schizer
  15. Alexandra A.E. Shapiro
  16. Arun Subramanian
  17. Zachary D. Tripp & Gillian E. Metzger
  18. Amanda L. Tyler
  19. Stephen Wiesenfeld
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. Masthead

Remembering Ruth

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a professor, lawyer, and jurist of historic stature. The contributors to this memorial volume speak to the multiple stages of her legal career, including her four decades on the federal bench with twenty-seven years on the Supreme Court. She is among the few Justices in the history of the Court who had a pathmarking impact on the law even before becoming a judge and among the even fewer still who will be remembered long beyond their service. Ruth enriched the lives of all who knew her, worked alongside her, or simply were inspired by her example. She was proud of her many associations with Columbia Law School, and it is fitting that this tribute collection appears in the Columbia Law Review, a publication to which she contributed as both editor and author.

As a jurist, Ruth was a master of the judicial craft. Her opinions are written with the unaffected grace of precision. She chose her words with calibrated nuance to convey exact intended meaning. But she also worked quickly, even on hard assignments. She enjoyed the challenge of routinely being first to complete an assigned opinion each Term, undaunted by the possibility that a Chief Justice might send difficult cases her way to enable others to keep pace.

In conference, Justice Ginsburg embodied integrity, intelligence, and responsibility. She listened attentively and spoke softly, contributing quiet rigor and conviction to each conversation. Those contributions continued through the opinion circulation process. She offered edits to improve the work of others and accepted suggestions to strengthen her own. Her many majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions constitute an impressive legacy. And every Justice who shared the bench with her produced better work for being by her side.

Ruth not only brought judicial talent and temperament to the Court; she also brought her passion for the arts. She was world famous for her love and knowledge of opera. She served as our impresaria of the Supreme Court Musicale, a tradition of bringing the Justices and Court family together twice a year for music at the Supreme Court. She attracted world-class talent that lifted our spirits during our most arduous workdays.

Justice Ginsburg has of course become an international icon of the law. In her long life, she traveled the globe making common cause with judges, lawyers, and law students, building friendships based on a shared belief in the power of the law to help people live free. She inspired a great many individuals, and especially a great many women, to dedicate themselves to law and to public service. Her influence will continue through their work.

Beyond all this, Ruth was devoted to her delightful family. She demonstrated that one can indeed balance a demanding professional career with a rich home life. We at the Court were third-party beneficiaries of her marriage with Martin Ginsburg, who enlivened our gatherings during his too-short life. Their children, Jane and James, will always be welcome at the Court.

I am fortunate to be among those who knew Justice Ginsburg as a colleague and a friend. She will remain an enduring model for so many others who know her through her work and example. The collected tributes that follow will help ensure that future generations will know Ruth Bader Ginsburg too, as a tireless, resolute, and beloved champion of justice.

* Chief Justice of the United States.

1933

Joan Ruth Bader is born on March 15 to Nathan and Cecelia Bader. She is raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

1954

After graduating from Cornell University, Ruth marries Martin D. Ginsburg.

1956

Ginsburg enrolls at Harvard Law School, one of only nine women in a class of over five hundred men.

1958

Left: The masthead of the Columbia Law Review, Vol. 59 (1959). Right: Justice Ginsburg with Arun Subramanian (Clerk, 2006/2007) and his family.
Top: The masthead of the Columbia Law Review, Vol. 59 (1959).
Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Arun Subramanian (Clerk, 2006/2007) and his family.

Justice Ginsburg was a Titan. During her forty years of public service, and really her entire legal career, she lived by Deuteronomy’s teaching—“Justice, Justice thou shalt pursue.”

Arun Subramanian

Ginsburg transfers to Columbia Law School, where she joins the staff of the Columbia Law Review.

A TITAN AMONG US
—ON DISSENTS, WAYMAKING, AND STRONG COFFEE

* Partner, Susman Godfrey LLP. Clerked for Justice Ginsburg in October Term 2006.

1959

The Columbia Law School yearbook portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who graduated tied for first in the Class of 1959. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
The Columbia Law School yearbook portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who graduated tied for first in the Class of 1959. Courtesy Columbia Law School.

Ginsburg graduates first in her class at Columbia Law School. She clerks for Judge Edmund L. Palmieri of the U.S.District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1959 to 1961.

1961

Top: 1980: Ginsburg leads a panel discussion at the Columbia Law School Women’s Association’s second annual Myra Bradwell Day, which commemorates the Illinois lawyer who was denied admission to the bar by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1870 because of her gender. Bradwell was eventually admitted to the Illinois bar in 1890 and to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar in 1892. Courtesy Columbia Law School. Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Professor Gillian Metzger (Clerk, 1997/1998).
Top: 1980: Ginsburg leads a panel discussion at the Columbia Law School Women’s Association’s second annual Myra Bradwell Day, which commemorates the Illinois lawyer who was denied admission to the bar by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1870 because of her gender. Bradwell was eventually admitted to the Illinois bar in 1890 and to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar in 1892. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Professor Gillian Metzger (Clerk, 1997/1998).

Like her Notorious dissents, her decisions in civil procedure and jurisdiction cases share a pragmatic focus on law on the ground and a commitment to judicial modesty. But they stand out for their attentiveness to doctrinal and institutional interstices over abstract principle.

Zachary D. Tripp & Gillian E. Metzger

Columbia Law Professor Hans Smit invites Ginsburg to write a book on Swedish civil procedure.

PROFESSOR JUSTICE GINSBURG: JUSTICE GINSBURG’S LOVE OF PROCEDURE AND JURISDICTION

* Partner and Co-Head of the Appellate Practice Group, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Mr. Tripp clerked for Justice Ginsburg in October Term 2007.

** Harlan Fiske Stone Professor of Constitutional Law, Columbia Law School. Professor Metzger clerked for Justice Ginsburg in October Term 1997.

1963

1970s: Ginsburg teaches the first sex discrimination law seminar at Columbia Law School. Students in the class often assisted Ginsburg on cases she argued on behalf of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project before the U.S. Supreme Court. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
1970s: Ginsburg teaches the first sex discrimination law seminar at Columbia Law School. Students in the class often assisted Ginsburg on cases she argued on behalf of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project before the U.S. Supreme Court. Courtesy Columbia Law School.

Ginsburg joins the faculty at Rutgers Law School.

1971

In Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971), the Supreme Court applies heightened scrutiny to differential treatment based on gender for the first time. Ginsburg authors the brief for Sally Reed.

1972

Top Left: 1993: Justice Ginsburg and Brenda Feigen at an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first class of women to graduate from Harvard Law School. Top Right: Justice Ginsburg and Kathleen Peratis. Bottom: Justice Ginsburg, Kathleen Peratis, and President Bill Clinton.
Top Left: 1993: Justice Ginsburg and Brenda Feigen at an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first class of women to graduate from Harvard Law School.
Top Right: Justice Ginsburg and Kathleen Peratis.
Bottom: Justice Ginsburg, Kathleen Peratis, and President Bill Clinton.

Along with Brenda Feigen, Ginsburg co-founds the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.

GOODBYE, OLD FRIEND: TRIBUTE TO JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG

* J.D. 1969, Harvard Law School. The author co-founded the ACLU Women’s Rights Project with Justice Ginsburg.

MEMORIES OF RBG

* Partner, Outten & Golden, LLC. Ms. Peratis succeeded Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Co-Director of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project in 1974.

1972

Top: 1972: Columbia Law School announces in January that Ginsburg would be joining the faculty as the first woman to hold a full-time tenured professorship. Courtesy Columbia Law School. Bottom: 1970s: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 encourages students in her seminar on sex discrimination law to assist her in preparing for the cases she argues on behalf of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project before the U.S. Supreme Court. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Top: 1972: Columbia Law School announces in January that Ginsburg would be joining the faculty as the first woman to hold a full-time tenured professorship. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Bottom: 1970s: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 encourages students in her seminar on sex discrimination law to assist her in preparing for the cases she argues on behalf of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project before the U.S. Supreme Court. Courtesy Columbia Law School.

Ginsburg becomes the first woman to join Columbia Law School as a tenured faculty member.

EARLY WOMEN’S RIGHTS ADVENTURES WITH PROFESSOR RUTH BADER GINSBURG AND OUR CLINICAL TEACHING AT COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL

* Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and Director, International Women’s Human Rights Clinic.

1972

Top: 1972: Ginsburg at Columbia. Courtesy Columbia Law School. Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Professor David M. Schizer (Clerk, 1994/1995).
Top: 1972: Ginsburg at Columbia. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Professor David M. Schizer (Clerk, 1994/1995).

RBG possessed the courage to make controversial arguments, knowing that she would face stiff headwinds. A singularly gifted lawyer, she won the day with eloquence, meticulousness, and a tireless work ethic.

David M. Schizer

Together with her husband Marty, Ginsburg represents Charles Mortiz in Moritz v. Commissioner, 469 F.2d 466 (1972), in which the 10th Circuit holds that a tax deduction available to unmarried women but not unmarried men is unconstitutional. This is the only case Ruth and Marty brought together, and it is featured in the 2018 film On the Basis of Sex.

RBG: NONPROFIT ENTREPRENEUR

* Dean Emeritus and Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law and Economics, Columbia Law School. The author clerked for RBG in the October 1994 Term, her second year on the U.S. Supreme Court.

1973

1975: Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 in her academic regalia at the Columbia Law School graduation ceremony. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
1975: Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 in her academic regalia at the Columbia Law School graduation ceremony. Courtesy Columbia Law School.

Ginsburg successfully appears before the Supreme Court for the first time in Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677 (1973), in which the Court holds unconstitutional a military benefit afforded to men with dependent spouses, but not women.

1975

2014: Justice Ginsburg with Stephen and Elaine Weisenfeld. The Justice performed their wedding ceremony the following day at the Supreme Court.
2014: Justice Ginsburg with Stephen and Elaine Weisenfeld. The Justice performed their wedding ceremony the following day at the Supreme Court.

She approached life and work with these words: “We the people.” She believed in and fought for “justice for all.” She succeeded to a great extent.

Stephen Wiesenfeld

In Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636 (1975), Ginsburg successfully argues before the Court that the Social Security Act’s gender-based distinction in survivor benefits is unconstitutional.

MY JOURNEY WITH RBG

* Life-long friend and client of Justice Ginsburg.

1980

1980: Ginsburg is nominated on April 14 by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and her appointment is confirmed by the Senate on June 18, 1980. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
1980: Ginsburg is nominated on April 14 by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and her appointment is confirmed by the Senate on June 18, 1980. Courtesy Columbia Law School.

Ginsburg is appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

1993

Top: 1993: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Day at Columbia Law School on November 19 is a celebration of the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice. Courtesy Columbia Law School. Bottom: 1993: Group photo of the nine Justices for the 1993/1994 Term.
Top: 1993: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Day at Columbia Law School on November 19 is a celebration of the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Bottom: 1993: Group photo of the nine Justices for the 1993/1994 Term.

Ginsburg is appointed by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Supreme Court.

TRIBUTE TO RUTH BADER GINSBURG: A TRAILBLAZER FOR THE AGES

* Former U.S. Senator from New York, U.S. Secretary of State, and Democratic nominee for President in 2016.

THE GINSBURG COURT? A CONTRARIAN VIEW

* Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, and law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during October Term 2011.

1996

Top & Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Judge John B. Owens (Clerk, 1997/1998). Center: 1995: Justice Ginsburg is presented with Columbia Law School’s highest honor, the Medal for Excellence, which has been awarded annually since 1964 to alumni and past or present faculty members who exemplify the qualities of character, intellect, and social and professional responsibility that the Law School seeks to instill in its students. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Top & Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Judge John B. Owens (Clerk, 1997/1998).
Center: 1995: Justice Ginsburg is presented with Columbia Law School’s highest honor, the Medal for Excellence, which has been awarded annually since 1964 to alumni and past or present faculty members who exemplify the qualities of character, intellect, and social and professional responsibility that the Law School seeks to instill in its students. Courtesy Columbia Law School.

Scholars will have the final—and probably best—take on the Justice’s legal theory, but here is mine: The Justice loved the United States.

John B. Owens

Ginsburg authors the majority opinion in United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996), in which the Court holds that Virginia Military Institute’s exclusion of female cadets is unconstitutional.

BEFORE SHE WAS NOTORIOUS: REFLECTIONS ON “THE JUSTICE”

*  Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

2000

Top: 2001: Justice Ginsburg delights at the unveiling of her official Columbia Law School portrait, painted by Constance P. Beaty. Courtesy Columbia Law School. Bottom: 2001: Justice Ginsburg and her Supreme Court colleague Justice Stephen G. Breyer participate in a panel, “The Great Law School: Changing the Law Through Legal Education and Scholarship,” at Columbia Law School. Courtesy Columbia Law School
Top: 2001: Justice Ginsburg delights at the unveiling of her official Columbia Law School portrait, painted by Constance P. Beaty. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Bottom: 2001: Justice Ginsburg and her Supreme Court colleague Justice Stephen G. Breyer participate in a panel, “The Great Law School: Changing the Law Through Legal Education and Scholarship,” at Columbia Law School. Courtesy Columbia Law School

In Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc., 528 U.S. 167 (2000), Ginsburg authors a majority opinion establishing a broad basis for standing in environmental cases.

REFLECTIONS ON RBG: MENTOR, FRIEND, HERO

* Associate Justice, California Supreme Court. The author clerked for Justice Ginsburg during October Term 2000.

JUSTICE GINSBURG’S QUIET EXAMPLE

* Supreme Court and appellate partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. From 2009 to 2016, she served in the Office of the Solicitor General.

2013

Top: 2012: Justice Ginsburg participates in a Columbia Law School Center for Gender and Sexuality Law symposium commemorating the 40th anniversary of her appointment to the Law School faculty and celebrating her contribution to gender-based justice and equality. Courtesy Columbia Law School. Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Payvand Ahdout (Clerk, 2015/2016).
Top: 2012: Justice Ginsburg participates in a Columbia Law School Center for Gender and Sexuality Law symposium commemorating the 40th anniversary of her appointment to the Law School faculty and celebrating her contribution to gender-based justice and equality. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with Payvand Ahdout (Clerk, 2015/2016).

With Justice Ginsburg, there is so much more than meets the eye.

Z. Payvand Ahdout

In Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), the Court holds that the Voting Rights Act provision requiring federal preclearance before changes to voting laws and practices is unconstitutional. Ginsburg authors a dissenting opinion, arguing that “[t]hrowing out preclearance 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.”

BEYOND THE NOTORIOUS: A TRIBUTE TO MY JUSTICE

* Academic Fellow & Columbia Fellow, Columbia Law School. Clerked for Justice Ginsburg during October Term 2015.

2018

Justice Ginsburg with her clerks, including Alexandra A.E. Shapiro (Clerk, 1993/1994).
Justice Ginsburg with her clerks, including Alexandra A.E. Shapiro (Clerk, 1993/1994).
A Conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg '59
Play Button

Watch
A Conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg '59

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Ginsburg’s investiture to the U.S. Supreme Court. RBG, a documentary film about Ginsburg’s life and career, is released.

RUTH BADER GINSBURG AT HER QUARTER CENTURY ON THE SUPREME COURT: BRIEF REFLECTIONS

* Then–Chief Judge, and now a Senior Circuit Judge, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit gave these remarks at a Columbia Law School event celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Justice Ginsburg’s investiture to the Supreme Court.

REFLECTIONS ON JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG AND HER APPROACH TO CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE

* Partner, Shapiro Arato Bach LLP. Clerked for Justice Ginsburg in October Term 1993.

2020

Top: 2018: Nina Totenberg, Judge Robert Katzmann, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Ginsburg, Columbia Law School Dean Gillian Lester, and Elizabeth Glazer at a gala dinner at Columbia University’s Low Library celebrating the 25th anniversary of Ginsburg’s investiture to the Supreme Court. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Bottom: Justice Ginsburg with her October Term 1998 clerks, including William Savitt.

Columbia Law School creates the Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 Professorship of Law and the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholarship Fund.

SOME PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON RUTH BADER GINSBURG’S CONTRIBUTION TO BUSINESS LAW

* Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Law Clerk to the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, October Term 1998.

2021

Top: Justice Ginsburg with Professor Amanda L. Tyler (Clerk, 2000/2001). Bottom: 2009: Justice Ginsburg attends her 50th reunion at Columbia Law School. Courtesy Columbia Law School.
Top: Justice Ginsburg with Professor Amanda L. Tyler (Clerk, 2000/2001).
Bottom: 2009: Justice Ginsburg attends her 50th reunion at Columbia Law School. Courtesy Columbia Law School.

As she said on another occasion, “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” She never attacked people, but rather ideas, and she did so in a measured, careful way designed to bring others along. This was a huge factor in the many and great successes she achieved both as an advocate and jurist.

Amanda L. Tyler

Ginsburg’s impact and legacy are explored in Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union, written by Ginsburg together with Professor Amanda L. Tyler.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG

* Shannon Cecil Turner Professor of Jurisprudence, University of California, Berkeley School of Law; Law clerk to the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, October Term 1999.

A Justice and a Friend

Shortly after I learned of Ruth’s passing, I thought: A great Justice, a woman of valor, a rock of righteousness, and my good, good friend.

Ruth will be remembered as a brilliant judge, and a great jurist who did much for women (indeed for everyone) both before and after she became a Justice. Ruth was intelligent, logical, and hardworking. Her opinions reflect her principles. When I wanted to know what she was thinking—and I always wanted to know what she was thinking—I would read her memos and her drafts. Her analysis of a case would be clear, true to the record, and true to the parties’ arguments. She would explain the law succinctly, but without omitting necessary detail. As a Justice, her opinions reflected her basic decency. She understood the basic indecency of discrimination and unfair treatment. She correctly assumed that the law seeks to help people live better lives.

Ruth was a woman who made the world a better place for us to live in, in ways both big and small. She paid attention to all the details. That included her clothes. She dressed well. She loved the ruffs she wore with her robes on the bench. She paid attention to the details of human relations. A few weeks before she died, she sent my newly born grandchild a t-shirt with the words, “Future RBG Law Clerk.” Her note said: “This is too large for you. It’s going to have to be for Ryan” (his older half-brother) “until you get big enough to fill it.” She was a thoughtful person.

Ruth understood that not every silence needs to be filled. She would think before she spoke, even on social occasions. But she did have a good sense of humor. Over the years, I might go into her office to tell her something I had found funny, and say, “Ruth, what do you think of this?” And she would find it funny. We would chat about it—as long as I did not stay too long. If I stayed too long, she would stand up from behind her desk. I knew exactly what that meant: She wanted to get back to work, and that’s what she did.

Ruth was a rock. When I came back to D.C. for her service and went into my office, I found a card she had sent on my birthday a few weeks prior. The card had a picture of her, and it said, “I order you to have a happy birthday. To my younger colleague, stay cool and well.” And she underlined younger, which she always thought was terribly funny—and I liked it too! She wrote, “We’ll get together when this epidemic is over, and see an opera, and life will go on.” Even now, thinking about that cheers me up.

What was it like to work with Ruth? Interesting. Challenging. Educational. The longer you knew her the more you liked her. And I did know her many years. And I did like her very much.

I shall miss Ruth very much indeed.

* Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Portions of this tribute first appeared in Stephen Breyer, M. Margaret McKeown & Robert Katzmann, In Memoriam: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Judicature, Fall/Winter 2020–2021, at 84, 85.