U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday at 87-years-old due to complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas. Ginsburg served the nation’s highest court for 27 years and was the second woman on the Supreme Court.
Justice Ginsburg was a pioneer for gender equality. In 1996, Ginsburg wrote the court’s 7-1 opinion declaring that the Virginia Military Institute couldn’t remain an all-male institution. In 2014, she dissented the court’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby which allowed for-profit companies to refuse to comply with a federal mandate to cover birth control in health care plans on religious grounds.
Not all of Ginsburg’s votes were progressive. In 2020, much to environmentalists’ distress and outcry from Indigenous communities, she voted to allow a natural gas pipeline beneath the Appalachian Trail. Latina Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent.
Latinx politicians and celebrities have taken to social media to mourn the iconic judge and thank herfor her service.
@AOC: We have lost a giant in the history of our nation with the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It is heartbreaking that in her final moments she was, as are many others, preoccupied with what would happen after her passing. I want to make one thing clear: we can, and must, fight.
@JulianCastro: Justice Ginsburg was a heroine of her time. A pioneer for gender equality, an icon of groundbreaking jurisprudence, and a beloved mother and grandmother. She’s lived a full life and made a tremendous mark on history. She will be missed, but her legacy will be cherished forever.
@Americaferrera: An indescribable honor to have been in her presence. She never stopped showing up for us. Now we’ll keep showing up to honor her life and legacy.#rbg
@Maria_Hinojosa: This a no good terrible very very bad night. RIP RBG.
@JohnLeguizamo: #rbg #RuthBaderGinsburg Rest with the best! But we must fight as she fought till the bitter end no matter what we cannot and must not succumb to cynicism!!!
@everythingloria: Rest in power, Ruth. Thank you for your vast contribution to our world.
@JuliaCarmel__ Haven’t yet processed the gravity of Ruth Bader Ginsburg leaving this world. May her memory truly be a blessing. RIP, RBG.
@Zoesaldana: Rest In Peace And Power. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the demure firebrand who in her 80s became a legal, cultural, and feminist icon has died from complications from cancer.
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 will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
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.