Ruth Bader Ginsburg Death: A Look At The Famed Supreme Court Justice's Accomplishments

Associate Supreme Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the Court announced. She was 87.

“Our nation has lost a jurist of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said. “We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”

Ginsburg, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1993, saw her profile surge in recent years, particularly after the acclaimed 2018 documentary, "RBG." Ginsburg, generally viewed as being part of the liberal wing of the court, dedicated her life to equality and women’s rights.

Ginsburg held strong pro-choice views and also believed in using international law cases to inform her judicial opinions. Ginsburg delivered noteworthy opinions on United States v. Virginia, Olmstead v. L.C. and Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc.

Born Joan Ruth Bader to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, during the height of the Great Depression, she received a bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University in June 1954. A month later, she married her husband, Martin D. Ginsburg.

In 1956, she enrolled in Harvard Law School and was one of the only women in her class. She later transferred to Columbia University in New York City, receiving her law degree in 1959 and tied for first in her class.

After graduating from law school, Ginsburg began a clerkship for Judge Edmund L. Palmieri of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She later moved on to work as a law professor at Rutgers Law School, receiving tenure in 1969.

During her academic career, she co-founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal dedicated to women’s rights. She also co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.

Among her many accomplishments, she became the first Supreme Court justice to officiate at a same-sex marriage ceremony. Ginsburg also was awarded the ABA medal, the American Bar Association's highest honor.

In October 2002, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Ginsburg’s death will likely lead to a nasty political fight over her successor. NPR reported that Ginsburg dictated a statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera in the days before her death: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."