WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday. She was 87.
Ginsburg died of “complications of metastatic pancreas cancer,” the Supreme Court said in a statement.
Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court in August 1993 by President Bill Clinton, filling the seat held by Byron “Whizzer” White. She was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court.
In a statement, the court said Ginsburg died at her home in Washington, surrounded by family.
Statement from the US Supreme Court on the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. pic.twitter.com/Vk2hU1Z6uY
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) September 19, 2020
“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.”
“{With the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, America has lost one of the most extraordinary Justices ever to serve on the Supreme Court,” Clinton said Friday night.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in August 10, 1993. Full video here: https://t.co/55NIHpatpZ RIP. pic.twitter.com/7SpFMvSiYR
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 18, 2020
Ginsburg was a strong advocate for women’s rights as a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union during the 1970s, NPR reported. She served 27 years on the nation’s highest court, becoming its most prominent member.
We have lost an American Icon of untold proportions, a feminist with the steeliest spine, and a jurist of remarkable talent, legal precision, and a yearning for justice for all. https://t.co/AeHTEkMYqq
— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) September 18, 2020
Ginsburg rose to the top of her class at Columbia Law School during the 1950s, The Washington Post reported. In 1993, she became the second woman on the high court. Ginsburg’s “Notorious RBG” nickname graced T-shirts and coffee mugs, the newspaper reported.
That was a nod to the rapper Notorious B.I.G. The justice once said, “We were both born and bred in Brooklyn, New York,” she liked to say.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the kind of scholar and patriot you get excited about explaining to your kids. The kind of person who you say “who knows, one day you could be HER”. I hope you rest well, RBG, you must have been tired from changing the world.
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) September 19, 2020
Ginsburg also was the subject of a popular film documentary, “RBG,” in 2018.
Ginsburg’s death will give Donald Trump the opportunity to name her successor, The New York Times reported. Senate Republicans have promised to try to fill the vacancy during the waning days of his first term.
The Senate and the nation mourn the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the conclusion of her extraordinary American life.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) September 19, 2020
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/NOwYLhDxIk
Doctors discovered lesions on Ginsburg’s liver in May. She had surgery for lung cancer and radiation treatment for pancreatic cancer. She had surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2009 and was treated for colon cancer in 1999, the Times reported.
“I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam,” Ginsburg said in a statement two months ago. " I remain fully able to do that."
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg wanted to be Supreme Court clerk in 1960, she was rejected because of her gender. More than 30 years later she made it to the high court bench herself.
— POLITICO (@politico) September 19, 2020
Here’s a look back Ginsburg’s life and legacy. 👇https://t.co/Xfjc1aoBo1
Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn in 1933, graduated from Cornell in 1954 and began law school at Harvard, the newspaper reported. After moving to New York with her husband, she transferred to Columbia, where she earned her law degree. After that, she began her legal work as a lawyer for the ACLU.
Justice Ginsburg was a remarkable woman with an astonishing work ethic. She was a warrior with true conviction and she has my absolute respect! #RIP
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) September 19, 2020
“I had the good fortune to be alive and a lawyer in the late 1960s when, for the first time in the history of the United States, it became possible to urge before courts, successfully, that society would benefit enormously if women were regarded as persons equal in stature to men,'” Ginsburg said in a commencement speech in 2002.
At the Supreme Court, she was perhaps best known for the opinion she wrote in United States v. Virginia, CNN reported. It was a decision that held that the all-male admissions policy at the state-funded Virginia Military Institute was unconstitutional for its ban on women applicants.
NY’s heart breaks with the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) September 19, 2020
During her extraordinary career, this Brooklyn native broke barriers & the letters RBG took on new meaning—as battle cry & inspiration.
Her legal mind & dedication to justice leave an indelible mark on America.
“The constitutional violation in this case is the categorical exclusion of women from an extraordinary educational opportunity afforded men,” she wrote in 1996.
Leaving a campaign stop in Bemidji, Minnesota, Trump was surprised to hear about Ginsburg’s death.
“She just died? Wow. I didn’t know that, you’re telling me now for the first time,” Trump told reporters. “She led an amazing life. What else can you say? She was an amazing woman. Whether you agreed or not she was an amazing woman, who led an amazing life. I’m actually sad to hear that.”
Statement from the President on the Passing of Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pic.twitter.com/N2YkGVWLoF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2020
WATCH: Trump hears from a reporter that Justice Ginsburg has died.
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) September 19, 2020
"She just died? Wow. I didn't know that, you're telling me now for the first time."
"She led an amazing life. What else can you say? She was an amazing woman...I'm sad to hear that." pic.twitter.com/5Na3vHzP7f
Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent her life in pursuit of an equal world. She fought for the unheard, and through her decisions, she changed the course of American history. We can never repay what she has given us, but we all can honor her legacy by working toward true equality, together. pic.twitter.com/lh6bioRuED
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 19, 2020
Cox Media Group