Ruth Bader Ginsburg (born Joan Ruth Bader) grew up in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Cornell University in 1954. She was inspired by the constitutional lawyer Robert Cushman, and Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian-American poet and novelist, both of whom taught at the university.

In 1956, Ginsburg enrolled at Harvard Law School. She was one of only a few women following a career in law and recounted the experience as a male dominated environment that was hostile toward women. In spite of this, she achieved one of the many 'firsts' in her career as she became the first woman to contribute to the Harvard Law Review, where she served as an editor for a year. She later transferred to Columbia Law School after a move to New York where she developed her legal writing skills and excelled in her law studies.

Despite her outstanding academic record, gender discrimination came back to haunt her again during her initial searches for employment in the legal profession. After a brief period as a law clerk for a district judge (supported by strong recommendations from her academic contacts), she took teaching positions at Rutgers Law School (where she was paid less than equivalent male tutors) and at Columbia where she achieved another first by becoming the first tenured female professor.

Ginsburg co-founded a law journal (the Women's Rights Law Reporter) and the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and she became a leading figure in gender-discrimination litigation and had considerable success with cases in the Supreme Court.

Her success and supporting work advanced the rights of women, and encouraged the equality of both genders for issues of wage, family and social benefits, personal estates and the workplace. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter nominated Ginsburg for a seat in the court of appeal for the District of Columbia after the death of Judge Harold Leventhal. This was followed in 1993 by a nomination as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton.

Ginsburg became only the second woman to serve in the Supreme Court following Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who was the first (nominated by Ronald Reagan in 1981). Ginsburg enjoyed a personal connection with O’Connor, along with Justice Antonin Scalia with whom she disagreed with on most issues of law, but they were great friends socially and shared a love of travel, food and opera. In 2006, O’Connor retired leaving Ginsburg as the only woman serving in the court at the time.

During her career Ginsburg's approach used moderation and restraint, but a stronger voice was used when it came to cases of gender equality and the rights of workers. Her views included support for a personal choice for women in the case of abortion. In 1999 her work was recognized and she won the Thurgood Marshall Award which is presented yearly by American Bar Association members.

Despite her moderate and restrained approach, when Ginsburg dissented (a dissent is an opposition and views about official or legal outcomes), her writing skills combined with her particular opinions and often resulted in objections that were notable and influential, and famously attracted attention during the conclusion of the 2000 Bush v. Gore presidential election, where a close result and vote counting became a legal issue under the law in Florida that went to the Supreme Court. A recount was stopped which allowed a win by Bush. Ginsburg (among others) strongly disagreed with the outcome which she expressed through a written dissent.

Her well written dissents implied her often strong opinions, and included a subtle change from the norm by the exclusion of the word 'respectfully' from the usual statement of 'I respectfully dissent'. Her tenacity and her fight for gender equality and women's rights, and some of her dissents became noticed by popular culture after some of her remarks were made into a rap by law students. This raised her profile in mainstream society - especially after the public and the media introduced the moniker The Notorious R.G.B. - a play on the name of the rapper The Notorious B.I.G (who was also from Brooklyn, New York).

Ginsburg was involved in many important issues and landmark cases including the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the legalization of same-sex marriages in all American States. In her later years she came under increasing pressure to retire due to age and health concerns (she had suffered from cancer during her tenure), but she vowed to continue for as long as it was possible for her to perform her work fully and competently. Ruth Bader Ginsburg continued to serve in the courts until her death in 2020 aged 87. She continued her series of 'firsts' even after death by becoming the first woman, and the first Jewish person, to lay in state.

By Matt Sheen September MMXX - See video playlist for references

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