The nation has lost a real life hero. United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has reportedly died at the age of 87 from complications related to cancer.
Justice Ruth Bader Dies At 87
According to reports, Bader passed away at her home in Washington and surrounded by family. The Supreme Court announced her death and revealed it involved factors connected to metastatic cancer of the pancreas.
“Our nation has lost a justice 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 tired and resolute champion of justice.” (Statement)
Historic Run
Prior to her death, Ginsburg spent nearly three full decades in the Supreme Court. The loss comes just weeks before the presidential election and is expected to create controversy for who fills her seat.
Architect of the legal fight for women’s rights in the 1970s, Ginsburg subsequently served 27 years on the nation’s highest court, becoming its most prominent member. Her death will inevitably set in motion what promises to be a nasty and tumultuous political battle over who will succeed her, and it thrusts the Supreme Court vacancy into the spotlight of the presidential campaign. Just days before her death, as her strength waned, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: “My most fervent wish is that i I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” (NPR)
Fighting Power
Over the past year, Ruth made a promise to herself to try and serve in the Supreme Court through her 90’s. However, she has publicly battled cancer on multiple occasions.
She had suffered from five bouts of cancer, most recently a recurrence in early 2020 when a biopsy revealed lesions on her liver. In a statement she said that chemotherapy was yielding “positive results” and that she was able to maintain an active daily routine.”I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam,” she said in a statement in July 2020. ” I remain fully able to do that.”She told an audience in 2019 that she liked to keep busy even when she was fighting cancer. “I found each time that when I’m active, I’m much better than if I’m just lying about and feeling sorry for myself,” she said in New York at the Yale Club at an event hosted by Moment Magazine. Ginsburg told another audience that she thought she would serve until she was 90 years old. (CNN)
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” helped turn Ruth into a pop culture star with sketches including a “RBG” skit.
A Hollywood Story
Ruth’s journey to becoming a Supreme Court Justice made it to the big screen in 2018 with On The Basis Of Sex. The film stars actress Felicity Jones as Ginsburg and even features a cameo by Ruth.
In the fight for equality, she had no equal. Felicity Jones is Ruth Bader Ginsburg in #OnTheBasisOfSex, featuring the new original song by Kesha, “Here Comes The Change.” The film tells an inspiring and spirited true story that follows young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century of gender discrimination.
