Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies at Age 87
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died.
NPR reports that she died on Friday, September 18, 2020 at the age of 87 due to complications from cancer.
In a statement from the Supreme Court, it was said that she died in her home surrounded by family.
Ginsburg was appointed the the Supreme Court by Bill Clinton in August of 1993 and served until her death.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Martin D. Ginsburg who passed away in 2010. She is survived by her two children - Jane C. Ginsburg and James Steven Ginsburg.
Ginsburg was long-known for her work fighting for gender equality and women's rights. She was only the second woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court (the first being Sandra Day O'Connor.) She has also famously said that there will not be enough women on the Supreme Court, "until there are nine":
When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.
She was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer 2019, and at the time of her diagnosis said that she would, "remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam."
NPR reports that one of her final wishes, as dictated to her granddaughter Clara Spear, was,
My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.
Her death comes a little over six weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
In 2018 a movie about her life and career titled On the Basis of Sex (which is currently available via Amazon streaming) was released. A documentary about her life, RBG, is currently available to be streamed on Hulu.