Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Position:
Associate Justice

Judicial Offices:
Ruth Ginsburg was nominated by President Carter to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 14, 1980; took oath of office on June 30, 1980. Nominated by President Clinton on August 5, 1993, as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; confirmed by the Senate, 97-3. Sworn in on August 10, 1993.

Family:
Ruth Ginsburg was born on March 15, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, the second daughter of Nathan Bader and Celia Amster Bader. She married Martin D. Ginsburg in 1954, who is now a professor of tax law at Georgetown University Law Center. They have two children: Jane C. Ginsburg, a professor at Columbia Law School, and James S. Ginsburg, a producer of classical recordings.

Education:
Ginsburg received a B.A. with high honors in Government, distinction in all subjects, from Cornell University, where she was also the College of Arts and Sciences Class Marshall and a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. She attended Harvard Law School (1956-58) as one of only nine women in her class and earned a position with the Harvard Law Review, but later transferred to Columbia Law School where she received her LL.B. (J.D.), was a member of the Columbia Law Review, and was a Kent Scholar. She graduated at the top of her class.

Law Clerkship:
Ginsburg was clerk to the Honorable Edmund L. Palmieri, United States District Court, Southern District of New York from 1959 to 1961.

Law Teaching:
Following graduation from Columbia University, Ginsburg became a research associate (1961-62) and then Research Associate Director (1962-63) at the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure. She then joined Rutgers University School of Law as the only second woman offered a tenured professorship within the law faculty (1963-72); from 1972-1980, she became the first tenured woman law Professor at Columbia Law School; she accepted the position as a Fellow from 1977-78 at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford, California). She has also been invited to visit several faculties throughout the world: New York University School of Law (Spring 1968), Harvard Law School (Fall 1971), University of Amsterdam (Summer 1975), University of Strasbourg (Summer 1975), Salzburg Seminar in American Studies (Summer 1984), Aspen Institute (Summer 1990).

Law Practice and Professional Activities:
Ginsburg was admitted to New York Bar in 1959 and District of Columbia Bar in 1975. She also became actively involved in several civil rights and women's rights organizations throughout her career. Her experiences comprise being the founder and counsel for the Women's Rights Project with the American Civil Liberties Union (1972-80), the General Counsel (1973-80) and National Board of Directors (1974-80). Other affiliations include: American Bar Association Journal Board of Editors (1972-78); American Bar Foundation Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and Secretary (1979-89); ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, Council Member (1975-81); American Law Institute, Council Member (1978-1993); American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow (1982-); Council on Foreign Relations (1975-).

Legal Writing:

Books authored include: Civil Procedure in Sweden (1965) (with Anders Bruzelius); Text, Cases, and Materials on Sex-Based Discrimination (1974) (with Herma Hill Kay and Kenneth M. Davidson); and Some Thoughts on Autonomy and Equality in Relation to Roe v. Wade (1985). Ginsburg has also contributed numerous articles to law reviews and other periodicals on civil procedure, conflict of laws, constitutional law, and comparative law.

More Biographical Information:

• A New Look of Liberalism on the Court From the New York Times. (Registration Required)
• A Sense of Judicial Limits From the New York Times. (Registration Required)
• Ginsburg, Ruth Bader From Encyclopaedia Britannica.
• In Her Own Words: Ruth Bader Ginsberg From the New York Times. (Registration Required)
• Judges of the United States Courts From the Federal Judicial Center
• The Justices of the Supreme Court From the U.S. Supreme Court. In Adobe PDF format.
• Justice Ginsburg From the Legal Information Institute (Cornell University).
• Justice Ginsburg Still Voices Strong Doubts on Rationale Behind Roe v. Wade Ruling From the New York Times. (Registration Required)
• Rejected as a Clerk, Chosen as a Justice From the New York Times. (Registration Required).
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg From the Oyez Project (Northwestern University).
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg From the Supreme Court History Society.