Ruth Bader Ginsberg
The book's author, Jeffrey Rosen, is an American scholar and law professor who's been called "the nation's most widely read and influential legal commentator."
Jeffrey Rosen
Rosen first met Ruth Bader Ginsberg in an elevator in 1991, when he was a law clerk and she was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Not knowing what to say, Rosen blurted out a question about what opera Ginsburg had seen recently, and they immediately bonded over their mutual love of opera.
Afterwards, when Rosen became the legal affairs editor of the New Republic - writing about the law and the Supreme Court - he and Ginsburg began corresponding about articles he'd written and operas she'd seen. Rosen and Ginsburg have been exchanging letters, talking, and occasionally attending operas together ever since.
Rosen interviewed Ginsburg many times, and draws from those talks for this book.
Rosen notes that Ginsburg's approach to cases "didn't focus on abstract principles; they always focused on the real world challenges faced by individual men and women trying to define their life paths."
Young Ruth Bader Ginsburg
As general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project from 1972 to 1980, Ginsburg's mission was to convince the Supreme Court "that legislation apparently designed to benefit or protect women could often have the opposite effect."
Ginsburg observed, "There wasn't a great understanding of gender discrimination. People knew that race discrimination was an odious thing, but there were many who thought that all the gender-based differentials in the law operated benignly in women's favor. So my objective was to take the Court step by step to the realization that the pedestal on which some thought women were standing all too often turned out to be a cage."
To convince the Supreme Court, Ginsburg took the case of a man, which might resonate with the nine male justices. In 1975 Ginsburg represented Stephen Wiesenfeld, a computer consultant whose wife - a teacher - died during childbirth. Wiesenfeld applied for his wife's Social Security benefits, so he could work part-time and stay home with the baby. However, the law only permitted widows - not widowers - to collect special benefits, and Wiesenfeld's application was denied.
When Ginsburg took Wiesenfeld's case to the Supreme Court she won, and the case set an example for the equal treatment of men and women.
Ginsburg often discussed cases from "the bad old days", when the Court repeatedly upheld distinctions based on sex. For example, in 1961 a woman named Gwendolyn Hoyt killed her abusive husband, and was convicted of murder by an all-male jury. At that time, women were either not called for jury duty, or excused if they requested it, just because they were female.
In an appeal, Hoyt's lawyer challenged the gender-based exclusion of women from the jury pool. She held that the inability to have a jury that included females - who might have argued for manslaughter rather than murder - deprived Hoyt of her rights. Hoyt lost the case. However, a fire was lit under Ginsburg and - due to her efforts - the 'opt-out' policy for women serving on juries was ruled unconstitutional in the late 1970s.
Ginsburg's policy for chiseling away at gender discrimination continued after she was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice on August 10, 1993.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg being sworn in as a Supreme Court justice
Rosen notes, "every one of the cases she chipped away at involved a law based on the premise that men earned the money and women tended to the home and children" - legislation that Ginsburg thought was unfair.
As evidence of Ginsburg's leanings, Rosen mentions seeing a photograph in her chambers of the justice's son-in-law gazing at his child (Ginsburg's grandson). Ginsburg told Rosen 'this is my dream for the future.' At first Rosen took it to mean something about the joys of grandchildren. He later came to realize that Ginsburg was referring to the transformation of sex roles, that fathers and mothers take equal responsibility for children.
Ginsburg always insisted that "men and women would be truly equal only when they take equal responsibility for child rearing." This was a policy followed by Ruth and her husband Martin Ginsburg, a brilliant attorney specializing in tax law.
Young Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg with their daughterIn fact Ginsburg's very first hire on the Supreme Court was a male law clerk whose application said he was studying law at night because his wife - an economist - had a good job at the World Bank and he had to help take care of his two small children.
Rosen remarks, "By 1997 Ginsburg was seen as the new face of liberalism on the Supreme Court", and over the years "she has become one of the most inspiring American icons of our time and is now recognized as one of the most influential figures for constitutional change in American history."
Asked about her favorite cases on the Supreme Court, Ginsburg cites a 1996 case that struck down the Virginia Military Institute's all-male admissions policy. This marked the climax of challenges to single-sex public schools that she'd launched with her husband in the 1970s.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg and her husband Martin Ginsburg were loving lifelong partners
Ginsburg explains that the changing views of the Supreme Court over time follow changes in society. In her view, "justices should generally defer to other decision makers (Congress, state legislatures, state courts, constitutional amendments) and should be guided by 'measured motion' - meaning they should not leap too far ahead of public opinion." Shifts in society lead to evolving decisions about gender equality, civil rights, gay marriage, and so on.
Nevertheless, Ginsburg notes that there are times when the Court has to step ahead of the political branches - in the case of race discrimination, for instance. Ginsburg recalls, "Because there was little prospect of state legislatures dismantling segregation in the South, the Court had to step into the breach." The Court ultimately rejected Jim Crow legislation and killed the prospect of separate but equal.
In addition to the cases I've cited above, the book includes many of Ginsburg's views about other topics, including abortion legislation, pregnancy discrimination, civil liberties, unconscious bias, life-work balance, and the importance of dissenting opinions. According to Ginsburg, "the value of dissenting opinions is in persuading future generations to correct perceived injustice."
For example, in a 2014 5-to-4 vote, the Supreme Court upheld a law that allows Hobby Lobby to deny health care coverage for women's contraceptives because of the owners' religious beliefs. Ginsburg wrote a dissenting opinion because Hobby Lobby, a for-profit business, employs hundreds of women who don't share those religious beliefs.
In more recent interviews, Ginsburg talks about issues like the #MeToo movement. This crusade, in which women used newspapers, social media, and other platforms to demand respect, is an example of "how quickly social change can be produced by political activism from the ground up." Ginsburg hopes the #MeToo movement is here to stay, and that "it becomes as effective for the woman who works as a maid in a hotel as it is for Hollywood stars."
#MeToo took down some Hollywood bigwigs
Ginsburg observes that no further legislation is needed to ensure that women are respected in the workplace. She notes, "the laws are there, the laws are in place. It takes people to step forward and use them. Women have to say this is bad behavior. You should not engage in it, and I will not submit to it." Ginsburg goes on to say, "It's easier today because there are numbers to support women who say so. We no longer hear as often as we did in the past, 'She's making it up'."
Ginsburg also insists there should be due process for the accused. "The person who is accused has a right to defend herself or himself. Everyone deserves a fair hearing."
Asked about her advice to men in this new regime, Ginsburg says, "Just think how you would like the women in your family to be treated, particularly your daughters."
To the new generation of feminists who look to her as a role model, Ginsburg says, "Work for the things that you care about. Don't take no for an answer. If you have a dream, something you want to pursue, and you're willing to do the work that's necessary to make the dream come true, don't let anyone tell you, you can't do it. And you have, nowadays, many like-minded people who can join with you in opposing unfair treatment, treatment of you as less than a full citizen."
As for Ginsburg's hopes for the future, she'd like to see campaign finance reform.
On a personal level, Ginsburg talks about her friendship with Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Antonin Scalia, and her great fondness for Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who she served with for her first 12 years on the court.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Justice Antonin Scalia
Chief Justice William Rehnquist
Ginsburg and Scalia were philosophical opposites. In fact, Ginsburg led the Court's liberal wing while Scalia led the Court's conservative wing (until his death in 2016). Despite their differences, Ginsburg and Scalia were close friends. When they disagreed about cases, "they did so with relative equanimity because of the strength of their friendship, sustained by gourmet meals cooked by Marty Ginsberg and culminating in an annual New Year's Eve dinner at the Ginsburgs' home that often involved singing together around the piano."
An amusing offshoot of the Ginsburg-Scalia friendship is a comic opera called Scalia/Ginsburg written by Derrick Wang - a writer, librettist, and composer who attended the University of Maryland law school.
Derrick Wang
The opera "celebrates the virtues of the court through an affectionate, comic look at the unofficial leaders of its conservative and liberal wings."
The Scalia/Ginsburg opera
Ginsburg is amazed at her transformation into a judicial celebrity, especially when she became an internet sensation and then an American icon. In 2013 Shana Knizhnik, an NYU law student, created the Tumblr blog 'Notorious R.B.G', and afterwards co-wrote a book called 'Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.'
Khizhnik was inspired by the justice "because Ginsburg defies stereotypes. She is a grandmother, but she shows so much strength, and she is who she is without apology." To add to her mystique, Ginsburg works out regularly with a trainer, whom she shares with Justice Elena Kagan.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg working out
Ginsburg's fame inspired all manner of RBG merchandise, especially sweatshirts and tee shirts.
On a light note, Ginsburg observed that Chief Justice Rehnquist added four gold stripes to each sleeve of his black robe in 1995. To explain the uptick in sartorial splendor, Rehnquist admitted "he did not wish to be upstaged by the women." (Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg always wore attractive neckpieces.)
Chief Justice Rehnquist added stripes to his robe
In his acknowledgements Rosen writes a moving tribute to his mother Estelle Rosen, and says about Ginsburg: "Justice Ginsberg is an inspiration on so many levels, including how to live a good life - a life of disciplined focus and self-mastery, dedicated to the welfare of others. Thanks to her efforts as a pathbreaking advocate, judge, and Supreme Court justice, she is a personal and constitutional hero."
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Jeffrey Rosen), and the publisher (Henry Holt and Co.) for a copy of the book.
Rating: 4 stars
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