Lawyer and jurist; Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
(1993-2020)
Affectionately called “Notorious RBG”, steadfast dissenter and advocate for gender equality and women’s rights
Born
March 15, 1933
Died
September 18, 2020
Country of origin
United States
The second female justice to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court and the first Jewish woman, RBG leaves behind a legacy of breaking barriers and silences in the Supreme Court, especially in defense of women’s rights and social justice. In the 1960s, she faced gender discrimination in the workplace despite having top-notch academic credentials. She was one of only nine female students during her time at Harvard and became the lead counsel for the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. Despite graduating from Columbia at the top of her class, no law firm would hire her because she was a woman and a mother of young children. After passionate advocacy from her law professors, RBG entered the legal profession as a law clerk, eventually becoming a professor at Rutgers Law School in 1963. RBG received tenure at Rutgers and later taught at Columbia Law School, where she was the first woman granted tenure.
RBG joined the American Civil Liberties Union and, in 1972, co-founded the Women’s Rights Project. As its director and primary legal representative, she won five Supreme Court cases and convinced the court that gender discrimination was unconstitutional for the first time in history.
RBG was rewarded for her legal brilliance in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals and again in 1993 when President Bill Clinton appointed her as Supreme Court Justice.
RBG was a steadfast dissenter who spoke out against gender discrimination and the disempowerment of women, especially when she was the only woman in the Supreme Court.
During her time on the Supreme Court bench, RBG wrote many famous dissents and opinions in landmark cases, especially in defense of women’s rights.
RBG is the reason women have certain social rights. Her legal advocacy gave women the right to open a bank account without a man, sign a mortgage without a man, serve on a jury, legally contest gender discrimination in employment, and work while pregnant or raising children. She can be credited with building a better legal foundation of women’s equality.
