Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justice Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15, 1933) is a United States jurist. Since 1993, she has served as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. She is considered to be part of the "liberal wing" in the current court.

Women's rights advocate

In 1971, Ginsburg was instrumental in launching the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and served as the ACLU's General Counsel from 1973-1980, and on the National Board of Directors from 1974-1980. In this position, Ginsburg successfully argued several women's rights cases before the Supreme Court, including 1973's Frontiero v. Richardson. As she argued a case involving women having equal rights with men, Justice William Rehnquist jokingly asked her, "So you can't settle for Susan B. Anthony's face on the silver dollar?" Ginsburg said that by the time she got on the Supreme Court, Rehnquist was appreciative of the equal role of women.

Related Topics:
1971 - American Civil Liberties Union - 1973 - 1974 - Women's rights - Frontiero v. Richardson

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Ginsburg's co-authorship of a 1977 report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights titled Sex Bias in the U.S. Code has raised some controversy. The report advocated that gender-specific references in federal law be replaced with gender-neutral language. In the context of doing so, some commentators allege that Ginsburg advocated that the age of consent for statutory rape be lowered to 12 in federal territorial and maritime jurisdiction. However, the specific intent of the reference to lowering the age of consent -- namely, whether Ginsburg was advocating the lowering of the age of consent or whether she used a proposed statute as an example of gender-neutral language without advocating its substance -- remains in question.http://www.slate.com/id/2126491/ During the 2005 hearings on John Roberts' nomination to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Lindsey Graham, a Republican Senator from South Carolina, used the age-of-consent issue to argue that because conservative senators had confirmed the author of Sex Bias by an overwhelming margin, Roberts should be confirmed with similar ease.

Related Topics:
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights - Age of consent - 2005 hearings - John Roberts' - Chief Justice - Lindsey Graham - Republican - Senator - South Carolina

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