Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of nine women in a class of 500 at Harvard Law School. A professor asked her to justify taking a man’s spot. She transferred to Columbia, tied for first in her class, and couldn’t get hired. No law firm in New York would take a woman. So she taught, and she litigated, and she systematically dismantled legal gender discrimination case by case. Her strategy was brilliant — she often argued on behalf of men harmed by gender-based laws, knowing the all-male Supreme Court would grasp the injustice more easily. She won five of six cases before the Court before joining it herself. As a Justice, she became legendary for her dissents — meticulous, blistering arguments that often became the basis for future majority opinions. In her 80s, she became “Notorious RBG,” a pop culture icon who could deadlift and plank with her personal trainer. She worked through colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and a broken rib. She died at 87, still serving, still dissenting.