On September 18th, the legendary Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away due to complications from pancreatic cancer. Within hours of the announcement, social media was flooded with messages such as “there is no truth without Ruth” and quotes from her law opinions that changed the course of history. Justice Ginsburg, also known as RBG, was in public service all of her adult life, starting as a law clerk and slowly working her way up to a Supreme Court Justice. She made lasting impressions on nearly everyone she met and left an impact on the Justice System that will last for generations. 

 From the beginning of her career, RBG broke down boundaries, serving as Rutgers’ first female tenured law professor and as the first female member of both the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review. She then went on to found the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization dedicated to empowering immigrant women, women of color, and underprivileged women. RBG was a champion of women’s rights, arguing six different sex-discrimination cases and working hard to ensure that other women would not have to face the same difficulties she did, such as having to hide her pregnancy. Acknowledging her expertise, Jimmy Carter nominated her to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and from there her legacy began to take shape.  

In the Court of Appeals, the “Notorious RBG” fought many cases for gender equality, most notably United States v. Virginia, where the court ruled that the all-male federally funded Virginia Military Institute was required to admit women into the student body. This case caught the eye of plenty of Americans, including President Bill Clinton, who appointed her to the Supreme Court in 1993 after the retirement of Associate Justice Byron White. As a Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg heard landmark cases from all over the country, and shaped the way our society is governed. 

Ginsburg, representing the moderate-liberal block in the Supreme Court, set legal precedents for issues like gender equality, worker’s rights, and the separation of church and state.  Some of Ginsburg’s most famous opinions included her support for same-sex marriage, views on abortion rights, and approval of the Affordable Care Act. She fiercely supported feminism and prominently stood up for the #MeToo movement and women’s abortion rights. Ginsburg was a trailblazer in all aspects, and as the second ever female Supreme Court Justice (the first one being Sandra Day O’Connor), RBG helped pave the way for others like Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, to continue the fight for inclusion and gender equality. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was Jewish and passed away on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. According to Jewish tradition, if someone dies during Rosh Hashanah they are considered a tzaddik, or a person of righteousness. There are no better words to describe the trailblazer and icon. Rest in Peace Ruth Bader Ginsburg; may your memory never be forgotten.