Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday at 87 in her home in Washington, D.C., the Supreme Court announced.

Ginsburg’s death comes as a result of complications of pancreatic cancer, a disease she fought repeatedly throughout her body for over two decades.

“Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said of Ginsburg. “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 tireless and resolute champion of justice.”

Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and was confirmed almost unanimously in a Democrat-controlled Senate. She was the second of only four women to ever serve on the Supreme Court.

But Ginsburg’s influence extended beyond the court. Her fierce dedication to advocacy and her persistence through countless health issues help define her influence on the American landscape.

Career in U.S. Government

Ginsburg’s service in government began long before her career with the Supreme Court. President Jimmy Carter nominated Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. After her confirmation, she spent nearly 13 years in this position before receiving the tap from Clinton.

Ginsburg’s tap and subsequent confirmation led to a 27-year stint with the Supreme Court, where she authored opinions on major cases brought before the court. Her opinion in the landmark case United States v. Virginia ruled that a state-sponsored male-only academy was in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by failing to demonstrate how single-sex education was necessary to provide a stronger education. Virginia’s proposal of a similar female-only academy was determined to not provide the same benefits as the male-only academy. 

“Today's skeptical scrutiny of official action denying rights or opportunities based on sex responds to volumes of history,” Ginsburg wrote in her opinion. “‘Inherent differences’ between men and women … remain cause for celebration, but not for denigration.”

Other notable opinions and dissents written by Ginsburg include an opinion on Olmstead v. L.C., a case examining rights to community-based housing for individuals with mental disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act; an opinion on Timbs v. Indiana, examining the extent to which states can impose criminal fines and property forfeiture; and a dissent on Bush v. Gore, examining the Florida Supreme Court’s decision on the methodology of recounting ballots from the 2000 presidential election.

“A Warrior for Gender Equality”

Before Ginsburg’s career in public service, she made a name for herself as a litigator and a fierce advocate for issues, including women’s rights and other forms of discrimination.

In 1961, Chief Justice Earl Warren’s Supreme Court unanimously agreed with Florida’s jury selection policies that automatically required male jurors to serve, but only considered female jurors who volunteered themselves.

Justice John Harlan II’s opinion included statements such as “women are at the center of home and family life,” and that “a woman should be relieved from the civic duty of jury service unless she herself determines that such service is consistent with her own special responsibilities.”

Harlan’s opinion didn’t sit well with Ginsburg.  “I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks,” she said in “RBG,” a 2019 documentary focusing on her life.

During her time as a law professor at Rutgers, Ginsburg founded the Women’s Rights Project with the American Civil Liberties Union. The Project began by focusing on gender-based discrimination of employment, but quickly found itself writing briefs for the 1971 landmark Reed v. Reed case — a conflict over Idaho Code stating “males must be preferred to females” in terms of administration of an estate.

Ginsburg served as a volunteer attorney and gender rights activist for years before her appointment to the U.S. Circuit Court. Her decades in activism and public service won her many awards, including Glamour’s Woman of the Year, a spot in Time’s 100 Most Influential People and an induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She also was awarded honorary Doctor of Law degrees by Harvard, Princeton, and Williamette Universities.

“[S]he was a warrior for gender equality — someone who believed that equal justice under law only had meaning if it applied to every single American,” former President Barack Obama said in his statement released following the death of Ginsburg.

A Different Kind of Fight

Through sickness and health, Ginsburg worked tirelessly.

“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 mid-July press release.

Ginsburg struggled with cancer of the colon and pancreas since her first diagnosis in 1999. After her bout with colon cancer, however, she underwent surgery in 2009 to address stage 1 pancreatic cancer which included the removal of her spleen and a portion of her pancreas.

Despite the physical toll the cancers took on her body, Ginsburg started twice-weekly workouts under the supervision of a personal trainer. Days before her 80th birthday, her workout included 20 pushups, the Washington Post reported.

While exercising in November 2014, discomfort in Ginsburg’s chest led to the discovery of a blockage in her right coronary artery. A stent was placed to address the blockage, and Ginsburg continued her work.

In November of 2018, Ginsburg suffered a fall in her office, resulting in three fractured ribs. A December press release announced that the fall incidentally led to the discovery of two nodules — abnormal growths — in her left lung. The nodules were deemed malignant after removal.

Press releases across 2019 and 2020 announced further hospitalizations and medical appointments, including chills and fever, gallbladder infections, stent revisions and other minimally invasive procedures.

In a CNN interview in January of this year, Ginsburg, “energized and speaking animated[ly],” announced “I'm cancer free. That's good.” But, evidently, complications from her many bouts with the disease was too much for her body.

Cancer ultimately claimed the lives of both Ruth Ginsburg, and her husband Martin Ginsburg.

Service Information

Justice Ginsburg is survived by her two children: Jane Carol Ginsburg (George Spera) and James Steven Ginsburg (Patrice Michaels), four grandchildren: Paul Spera (Francesca Toich), Clara Spera (Rory Boyd), Miranda Ginsburg, Abigail Ginsburg, two step-grandchildren: Harjinder Bedi, Satinder Bedi, and one great-grandchild: Lucrezia Spera. Her husband, Martin David Ginsburg, died in 2010.

A private interment service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery, where her husband lies.