Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Essay Example

Introduction

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was born on March 15th 1933 in Brooklyn, New York.  From an early age her mother was a driving force in promoting her literacy and education.  A graduate of Cornell, Harvard and Columbia Universities, Ruth was an accomplished and talented individual from an early age.

Early Life

1959-61 Ginsburg served as a law clerk to the Hon Edmund L. Palmieri in the Southern District of New York

1961 – 63  A research associate at Columbia Law School and subsequently Associate Director of the school.  She became a leader in civil procedure after learning two Scandinavian languages.

1963-72  She became Professor of Law at Rutgers University

1972 -80  Professor of Law at Columbia University, the first ever woman to earn tenure. She also compiled the first novel on gender equality. (Anon, 2009)

Ruth went through a great deal of personal tragedy during her formative years. The loss of her mother prior to graduation and the suffering of her husband with a rare form of cancer. During this period she showed a great deal of courage and conviction. Over and above this she was still facing a great deal of prejudice from the business community, relative to her Jewish ancestry.

Professional Life

In 1980 it was President Jimmy Carter who appointed Ginsburg  to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.  Later President Clinton  chose Ginsburg to the office of the Supreme Court.  In her earlier days as a lawyer Ginsburg was noted for her pioneering the rights of women and equality at work. Whist a Professor of Law at Rutgers University  (1963-72), Ginsburg was responsible for co-authoring and founding the “Womens Rights Law Reporter”. This was the first journal of its kind to report exclusively on the rights of women (National Review online, 2005).  She later became appointed Professor of Law at Columbia University where she co-authored a book on sex discrimination. Her career progressed in 1977 to accepting a Fellowship at the Advanced Studies centre of Stanford University. By this time she had already acted as a killed advocate of the Supreme Court having successfully argued a number of cases.

It was the US Attorney General Janet Reno that recommended Ruth to the President (Bill Clinton) for the appointment to the Supreme Court.  She officially accepted on April 14th 1980 serving in the Supreme Court for a further 13 years. Ginsburg was characterised as having a very careful stance on adjudication. Ginsburg repeatedly supported the stance and rights on abortion ( Steinberg v Carhart). She openly discussed  her views on both abortion and Sex equality in the New York Times (2009) stating ” the base thing is that the government has no business making that choice for women” (Bazelon, 2009).

Ginsburg has been responsible as an advocate for using foreign law to help shape aspects of US law. During her time at the Supreme Court Ginsburg formed a close alliance with Justice Antonin Scalia.  Some notable cases of Ginsburg included the following:

• United States v. Virginia 518 U.S. 515 (1996) Court Opinion
• United States v. O’Hagan 521 U.S. 642 (1997) Court Opinion
• Olmstead v. L.C. 527 U.S. 581 (1999) Court Opinion
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. 528 U.S. 167 (2000) Court Opinion
• Bush v. Gore 531 U.S. 98 (2000) Dissenting
• Eldred v. Ashcroft 537 U.S. 186 (2003) Court Opinion
• Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. 544 U.S. 280 (2005)^{[clarification needed]} Court Opinion
• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. 550 U.S. 618 (2007) Dissenting
• Gonzales v. Carhart 550 U.S. 124 (2007) Dissenting
• Ricci v. DeStefano Dissenting

(Biskupic, 2007)

Stance on Major Issues

During her 13 years in the US Supreme Court, Ginsburg  has been a major advocate and influence on a wide range of important issues.  The Table in Fig 1 illustrates the comprehensive depth of coverage:

Stance on Abortion

“Senator Hank Brown: [Asked Ginsburg about] equal rights for men and women on the question of abortion.

Ginsburg: I will rest my answer on the Casey decision, which says in the end it’s her body, her life, and men – to that extent – are not similarly situated. They don’t bear the child.

Brown: [Asked to explain further about whether] the rights of men and women are not equal in this case.

Ginsburg: I said on the equality side of it, that it is essential to a woman’s equality with man that she be the decision-maker, that her choice be controlling. If you impose restraints, you are disadvantaging her because of her sex.. The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality. ”  (Times, 1993)

Stance on Civil Rights

Justice Ginsburg joined the Court’s decision on APPRENDI v. NEW JERSEY on Jun 26, 2000

Apprendi fired several shots into the home of an African-American family and made a statement that he did not want the family in his neighborhood because of their race. He was charged with possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, which carries a prison term of 5 to 10 years. The count did not refer to the State’s hate crime statute, which provides for an enhanced sentence [for racial intimidation]. After Apprendi pleaded guilty, the prosecutor filed a motion to enhance the sentence. The court found that the shooting was racially motivated and sentenced Apprendi to a 12-year term on the firearms count.

Held:

(Stevens, joined by Souter, Ginsburg, Scalia & Thomas)
The Constitution requires that any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum, other than the fact of a prior conviction, must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”  (Court, 2000)

Stance on Drugs

An interesting case on the applied use of personal marijuana.  ” However, Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared to support the arguments of the plaintiffs (USA Today, 11/30). “As I understand it, none of this home-grown marijuana will be on any interstate market,” O’Connor said, adding, “And it is in the area of something traditionally regulated by states. This limited exception (to the drug laws) is a non-economic use–growing for personal use” (Los Angeles Times, 11/30). Ginsburg said that “nobody’s buying anything–nobody’s selling anything.”  (Healthline, 2004)

Stance on Government Reform

Votes with liberal bloc against states’ rights

The nine court members can be divided into three general alliances, but all of the justices have crossed ideological lines. The three conservative justices and two of the swing justices usually support states’ rights [while the liberal bloc, including Ginsburg, do not].

Ginsburg is considered liberal but has voted with the conservative wing, most notably in a dissenting opinion that states have broad powers to limit jury awards. ” (Ed, 2000)

Current Life

Ginsburg at age 76 is being treated for pancreatic cancer. ” Ginsburg had surgery in February for pancreatic cancer. She has said the operation was a success, that she was cancer-free and expected to be on the court for several more years”. (James, 2009) An exemplary individual who has approached this challenge with the same courage and determination that has seen her excel throughout her brilliant career.

Works Cited

Anon. (2009). Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Early life. Retrieved 10 14, 2009, from Global Oneness: http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg_-_Early_life/id/5433824

Bazelon, E. (2009). The place of women on the court. New York Times .

Biskupic, J. (2007). Ginsburg, Scalia strikes a balance. USA Today .

Court, S. (2000, June 26). Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Civil Rights . On the Issues .

Ed, R. (2000, December 1). Votes with liberal bloc against states’ rights . Boston Globe , p. 1.

Healthline, C. (2004, 11 30). Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in California Medical Marijuana Case. California Healthline , p. 1.

James, V. (2009, 10 15). U.S. justice Ginsburg hospitalized for drowsiness. US Daily News .

National Review online. (2005, 9 25). Retrieved 10 15, 2009, from Bench Memos: Ginsburg on Roberts Hearings: http://bench.nationalreview.com

Times, N. (1993, July 2). Senate Nomination Hearing. New York Times .