WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) today issued the following statement upon the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was both an inspiration and a trailblazer in every possible sense of the words. After breaking through the countless barriers thrown in her path, she re-defined what it meant to be a both a thoughtful jurist and a dedicated public servant.
“From graduating first in her undergraduate class at Cornell University, to being the first female member of the Harvard Law Review, to graduating first in her class at Columbia Law School, Justice Ginsburg’s academic accomplishments were unrivaled. The first female professor at Columbia University to earn tenure, Justice Ginsburg directed the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and argued six landmark cases before the Supreme Court – winning five. These cases protected not only the rights of women, but also many men who faced discrimination as well. After serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for 13 years, she began her 27 years on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Justice Ginsburg attacked the legal precedents that enabled discrimination to persist with surgical precision. This approach underpinned her collaboration with President Barack Obama on the very first piece of legislation he signed, the Lilly Leadbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which required employers to redouble their efforts to ensure that their pay practices were equal – regardless of gender, age, nationality or disability status. The text of this bill hung on her office wall for good reason, as it was the embodiment of her spirit.
“I fully concur with Justice Ginsburg’s deathbed request: ‘My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.’”
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