Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

by Irin Carmon

“Those, like me, who admire their service might find it hard to hope that they will soon leave the Court—but service comes in many forms, including making way for others,” he wrote. It was RBG, however, and not Breyer, who was essentially followed around with a microphone pointed at her, journalists asking her when she would just get out already.

Unfortunately, she died during Trump’s presidency and it did turn the tides in favor of the conservatives.

One reporter said she nodded when it was said aloud that the next presidential election could bring the first female president. “Yes,” RBG replied, “and wouldn’t that be fantastic.” A Hillary Clinton presidency might be the perfect moment for RBG to step down, but for now, she stays because she loves the job.

Welp

“In my life, what I find most satisfying is that I was a part of a movement that made life better, not just for women,” RBG says. “I think gender discrimination is bad for everyone, it’s bad for men, it’s bad for children. Having the opportunity to be part of that change is tremendously satisfying. Think of how the Constitution begins. ‘We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union.’ But we’re still striving for that more perfect union. And one of the perfections is for the ‘we the people’ to include an ever enlarged group.”

RBG believes that “women belong in all places where decisions are being made.”

“If you really want to study the law, you will find a way. You will do it.” RBG says, “I’ve approached everything since then that way. Do I want this or not? And if I do, I’ll do it.”

SCALIA: This court’s so changeable— As if it’s never, ever known the law! The Justices are blind! How can they possibly spout this—? The Constitution says absolutely nothing about this, This right that they’ve enshrined— When did the document sprout this? The Framers wrote and signed Words that endured without this; The Constitution says absolutely nothing about this! . . . GINSBURG: How many times must I tell you, Dear Mister Justice Scalia: You’d spare us such pain If you’d just entertain This idea . . . (Then you might relax your rigid posture.) You are searching in vain for a bright-line solution To a problem that isn’t so easy to solve— But the beautiful thing about our Constitution Is that, like our society, it can evolve. For our Founders, of course, were great men with a vision, But their culture restricted how far they could go, So, to us, I believe, they bequeath the decision To allow certain meanings to flourish—and grow.