Research Guides: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Biography

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

(March 15, 1933 - September 18, 2020)

Ginsburg was born March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, daughter of Nathan Bader, a furrier and haberdasher, and Celia (Amster) Bader. Ginsburg attended New York public schools and then Cornell University. She married Martin Ginsburg after graduating from Cornell in 1954, and gave birth to a daughter, Jane Ginsburg, before entering Harvard Law School in 1956. Ginsburg was an outstanding student and was elected president of her class at the prestigious Harvard Law School. After her second year, she transferred to Columbia Law School, following her husband, who had taken a position with a New York City law firm. Ginsburg was elected to the Columbia Law Review and graduated first in her class. She was admitted to the New York bar in 1959. Continue . . .

Source: "Ginsburg, Ruth Bader." Gale Encyclopedia of American Law, edited by Donna Batten, 3rd ed., vol. 5, Gale, 2010, pp. 100-102. From Gale Virtual Reference database.

Book Collection

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg made her mark

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: the case of R. B. G. vs. inequality

Resources

"Notorious RBG": A conversation with United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg On February 2, 2016, Prof. Ruth Rubio-Marín, Chair of Constitutional and Comparative Public Law at the European University Institute (EUI), interviewed the U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The interview took place in the framework of the European University Institute's annual Ursula Hirschmann Lecture, a space dedicated to stimulate research and thinking which links ideas about Europe and the study of gender. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg engaged in a conversation that tackled her whole persona, without making rigid divides between the professional and the personal. Deep legal analysis, personal anecdotes, and invaluable advice for future researchers and lawyers intertwine in the interview, which sheds light on important dimensions of equality law.
The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Article from the Law & Society Review.
Fear the Frill: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Uncertain Futurity of Feminist Judicial Dissent Inspired by Robert Ivie's notion of democratic dissent as “limited nonconformity,” this essay examines the institutional grounding of judicial dissents, focusing specifically on Ruth Bader Ginsburg's dissenting opinion inBurwell v. Hobby Lobby. I argue that the genre of judicial dissent, both of the law and in excess of the law, operates as a supplement to the judicial system that legitimates and reinforces its institutional structure even as individual dissents may challenge majority opinions. I also consider the ways that Ginsburg's text and image have been deployed by reproductive rights advocates and Hobby Lobby protestors in the immediate aftermath of the decision, suggesting that the rhetorical and political excess of Ginsburg's dissent produces new opportunities for invention beyond the institutional constraints of the law.
The Role of Dissenting Opinions The article discusses the role of dissenting opinions in the U.S. judicial system. It mentions that a dissent presented orally garners immediate attention, and it signals that the court's opinion is grievously misguided. It notes that each justice of the U.S. Supreme Court spoke for himself whenever more than a memorandum judgment issued. It argues that dissent aims to attract immediate public attention and to propel legislative change.
Pioneer of Gender Equality What It Takes is an audio podcast on iTunes produced by the American Academy of Achievement featuring intimate, revealing conversations with influential leaders in the diverse fields of endeavor: music, science and exploration, sports, film, technology, literature, the military and social justice.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg In Conversation Brooklyn-born Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the second woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. She is also the first Justice to become a global pop-culture icon widely known as the Notorious RBG. She sits down with NPR legal correspondent Nina Totenberg to discuss her quarter century on the nation’s highest bench & her continuing commitment to principled dissent.
Notorious “RBG” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become an unlikely cultural phenomenon. A new documentary about her is on the shortlist for this year’s Oscar nomination. We have your preview.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Reflects On The #MeToo Movement: 'It's About Time' When Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg began her legal crusade, women were treated differently than men by law. By the time she first put on judicial robes she had already worked a judicial revolution. Today the issues are both the same and different. At front and center is the question of sexual harassment. At the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, Ginsburg had this to say about the #MeToo movement: "It's about time. For so long women were silent, thinking there was nothing you could do about it, but now the law is on the side of women, or men, who encounter harassment and that's a good thing."