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My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Age: 87 †
Born: 1933
Born: March 15
Died: 2020
Died: September 18
Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of The United States
Judge
Lawyer
Brooklyn
New York
RBG
Notorious RBG
Joan Ruth Bader
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Person
Lady
Meant
Independent
Told
Mother
Women
Persons

More quotes by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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I have yet to see a death case among the dozen coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented at trial... People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Promoting active liberty does not mean allowing the majority to run roughshod over minorities. It calls for taking special care that all groups have a chance to fully participate in society and the political process.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Every constitution written since the end of World War II includes a provision that men and women are citizens of equal stature. Ours does not.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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It is not women's liberation, it is women's and men's liberation.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Congress could always stop the President if Congress thinks that what the President has done exceeds the President's authority or is just wrong for the United States.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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I do think that being the second [female Supreme Court Justice] is wonderful, because it is a sign that being a woman in a place of importance is no longer extraordinary.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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The impact of all these restrictions is on poor women, because women who have means, if their state doesn't provide access, another state does. ... It makes no sense as a national policy to promote birth only among poor people.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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The emphasis must be not on the right to abortion but on the right to privacy and reproductive control.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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I am a judge born, raised, and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of the Jewish tradition. I hope, in my years on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, I will have the strength and the courage to remain constant in the service of that demand.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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There is a Constitutional right to prostitution.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Our goal in the '70s was to end the closed door era. There were so many things that were off limits to women, policing, firefighting, mining, piloting planes. And the stereotypical view of people of a world divided between home and child caring women and men as breadwinners, men representing the family outside the home.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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It's great to be in the position of asking questions and not having to answer questions.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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We do not read (the law) to elevate accommodation of religious observances over an institution's need to maintain order and safety, ... We have no cause to believe that (the law) would not be applied in an appropriately balanced way, without sensitivity to security concerns.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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It is not like I have gone crazy, I just don't want to take any chances. You never know what could happen.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Neither federal nor state government acts compatibly with equal protection when a law or official policy denies to women, simply because they are women, full citizenship stature - equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society based on their individual talents and capacities.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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When I graduated from law school in 1959, there wasn't a single woman on any federal bench. It wouldn't be a realistic ambition for a woman to want to become a federal judge.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent. The study of law was unusual for women of my generation. For most girls growing up in the '40s, the most important degree was not your B.A., but your M.R.S.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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One might plausibly contend that Congress violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers when it exonerates itself from the impositions of the laws it obligates people outside the legislature to obey.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg