Politics

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dead At 87

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris:Getty Images for DVF

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for DVF

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday at the age of 87.

The Supreme Court announced Ginsburg’s passing due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was at her home and her family was by her side. (RELATED: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Been Undergoing Cancer Treatment Since May)

Chief Justice John Roberts commented on the passing of his colleague, saying, “Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature… 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’s death leaves a vacancy on the court just weeks ahead of an already contentious presidential election — and according to a report from National Public Radio, Ginsburg told her granddaughter just days before her death that her wish was to be replaced only after the next inauguration.

“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new President is installed,” she reportedly told granddaughter Clara Spera.

Well known for her regular workouts and stubborn refusal to miss oral arguments, Ginsburg served on the court for nearly three decades after leading the fight for gender equality both in the court system and beyond. She also wrote the 7-1 opinion that allowed women entry into the Virginia Military Institute in 1996.

“Reliance on overbroad generalizations … estimates about the way most men or most women are, will not suffice to deny opportunity to women whose talent and capacity place them outside the average description,” Ginsburg wrote.

Ginsburg was the hero of many American liberals, but perhaps one of her closest friends was the very conservative late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.