Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a U.S. Supreme Court justice nominated by President Bill Clinton, has died. She was 87.
Ginsburg passed away Friday from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, the High Court said in a statement.
“Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died this evening surrounded by her family at her home in Washington, D.C.,” the statement said.
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In 1993, Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court and began serving on August 10, 1993. She was the second of only four women appointed to the court and served more than 27 years. The other female justices include Sandra Day O’Connor, and Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, both of whom are still serving.
Justice Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 15, 1933. She married Martin David Ginsburg in 1954. She received her B.A. from Cornell University and attended Harvard Law School, before transferring to Columbia Law School, where she graduated at the top of her class.
She served as a law clerk, and taught at Rutgers University School of Law from 1963–1972, and Columbia Law School from 1972–1980.
In 1971, she was instrumental in launching the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and served as the ACLU’s General Counsel from 1973–1980, and on the National Board of Directors from 1974–1980.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a champion of gender equality and the subject of the award-winning 2018 documentary RBG.
She is survived by her two children, Jane Carol Ginsburg (George Spera) and James Steven Ginsburg (Patrice Michaels), four grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Her husband died in 2010. A private interment service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery, the High Court said.
Ginsburg’s death will likely touch off a fierce political battle in Washington, to select her replacement.
