Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a federal appellate judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1980 to 1993. Appointed to the circuit court by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and confirmed in June 1980, she served in that capacity for thirteen years before her elevation to the Supreme Court. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in March 1933, she died in September 2020 at the age of 87. Her tenure on the D.C. Circuit represented a significant chapter in a distinguished legal career that included pioneering work as an advocate for gender equality and women's rights before her appointment to the federal bench.

Early life and legal career

Joan Ruth Bader was born on March 15, 1933, at Beth Moses Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, to Celia and Nathan Bader, who resided in the Flatbush neighborhood. Her father had emigrated from Odesa, Ukraine, which was then part of the Russian Empire, while her mother was born in New York to parents who had come from Kraków, Poland, at that time part of Austria-Hungary. The family was Jewish, and although not deeply devout, they belonged to East Midwood Jewish Center, a Conservative synagogue, where she learned about the Jewish faith and became familiar with Hebrew. Ruth had an older sister, Marilyn, who died of meningitis at age six when Ruth was only fourteen months old. As an infant, she had been nicknamed "Kiki" by her sister. When she began school, her mother suggested that teachers use her middle name, Ruth, to distinguish her from other students named Joan in her class.

Ruth's mother took an active role in her education, frequently bringing her to the library and encouraging academic achievement. Celia Bader had herself been an accomplished student who graduated from high school at fifteen, but her family had chosen to send her brother to college rather than her. Determined that her daughter would have greater educational opportunities, Celia hoped Ruth might become a high school history teacher. Ruth attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn. Tragically, her mother battled cancer throughout Ruth's high school years and died the day before her graduation.

Ruth Bader attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she joined the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. At Cornell, she met Martin D. Ginsburg when she was seventeen years old. She studied government and was influenced by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov, under whom she took courses; she later credited Nabokov as a significant influence on her development as a writer. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and became the highest-ranking female student in her graduating class. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in government in June 1954 and married Martin Ginsburg one month later.

She began her legal education at Harvard Law School, where she was among the very few women in her class. She later transferred to Columbia Law School, from which she graduated tied for first in her class. During the early 1960s, she worked with the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure, an experience that included learning Swedish and co-authoring a book with Swedish jurist Anders Bruzelius. Her work in Sweden had a profound impact on her thinking about gender equality. She subsequently joined the faculty at Rutgers Law School and later Columbia Law School, where she taught civil procedure. At Columbia, she became the first woman on the law faculty to achieve tenure, breaking barriers in a field dominated by men.

Much of her pre-judicial legal career focused on advocacy for gender equality and women's rights. She served as a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and became a member of its board of directors as well as one of its general counsel during the 1970s. In this capacity, she argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, winning many significant victories that advanced the cause of equal treatment under the law.

Federal appellate service

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was confirmed on June 18, 1980, and took her seat on what is often considered the second most important court in the federal judiciary due to its jurisdiction over many cases involving federal agencies and national policy questions. She occupied seat CADC0307 on the D.C. Circuit.

Ginsburg served on the D.C. Circuit for thirteen years, from 1980 until 1993. During this period, she developed a reputation as a careful, methodical jurist. The D.C. Circuit provided her with experience in a wide range of federal legal issues, including administrative law, regulatory matters, and constitutional questions. Her work on the circuit court built upon her earlier academic and advocacy experience, allowing her to apply her deep understanding of civil procedure and constitutional principles to the resolution of complex appellate cases.

Her service on the D.C. Circuit came during a period of significant evolution in federal law, particularly in areas relating to administrative agencies and their regulatory authority. The court's docket exposed her to the practical challenges of applying constitutional and statutory principles to the operations of the federal government. This experience would prove valuable preparation for her subsequent service on the nation's highest court.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Byron White. At the time of her nomination, she was viewed as a moderate consensus-builder, reflecting her judicial temperament and her record of careful legal analysis. Her confirmation to the Supreme Court ended her service on the D.C. Circuit after thirteen years on that bench.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's tenure on the D.C. Circuit represented an important transitional phase in her legal career, bridging her groundbreaking work as an advocate for gender equality and her subsequent service on the Supreme Court. Her thirteen years on the circuit court allowed her to develop her judicial philosophy and approach to appellate decision-making in a collegial environment with other distinguished jurists.

The D.C. Circuit appointment marked her entry into the federal judiciary after years of academic work and civil rights advocacy. The position gave her the opportunity to apply the principles she had championed as a litigator to the work of deciding cases and writing judicial opinions. Her background in civil procedure and her meticulous attention to legal detail served her well in the demanding work of appellate judging.

Following her departure from the D.C. Circuit for the Supreme Court, Ginsburg became the second woman to serve on the nation's highest court and the first Jewish woman to do so. Her Supreme Court tenure included authoring majority opinions in significant cases and, particularly in later years, becoming known for forceful dissenting opinions that articulated progressive legal positions. Between 2006 and 2009, she was the only woman serving on the Supreme Court.

Ginsburg faced significant health challenges during her later years, including multiple bouts with cancer. Despite these difficulties and suggestions from some quarters that she retire while a Democratic president and Senate could confirm her successor, she chose to continue serving. She died at her home in Washington, D.C., on September 18, 2020, at the age of 87, from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. Her death created a vacancy that was filled shortly thereafter, resulting in what has been characterized as a significant ideological shift in the Court's composition.

Her legacy encompasses not only her judicial service but also her pioneering work as an advocate who helped reshape American law regarding gender equality. Her appointment to the D.C. Circuit in 1980 represented an important milestone, both for her personally and for the advancement of women in the federal judiciary, coming at a time when few women served as federal appellate judges.