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Sorry, John Wayne, but it's Ruth who epitomized true grit, standing tallest for all people with fairness & determination to dismantle stereotypes while demonstrating that consensus to the detriment of humanity is a nonstarter.
Nicknamed “the Notorious RBG” (a play on the title of a popular rapper), Ruth was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court from 1993 to 2020. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, where she was the highest ranking female in her class, and Law degree from Columbia, where she was at the top of her class. While there, she co-authored a book with a Swedish jurist. The gender equality she witnessed in Sweden had lifelong effects on her views and decisions.
Despite her stellar academic record and law publication articles, sex discrimination kept law firms from hiring her. She took a teaching position at Rutgers Law School while advocating for and winning court cases involving gender equality and women’s rights. She co-founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal in the U.S. specifically for women’s rights, then co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Over 300 gender discrimination cases were handled during the first two years, six of which were argued before the Supreme Court by Ruth. She won five of them by taking on one unique issue at a time, and including male plaintiffs to demonstrate that both sexes were being harmed by unjust laws on issues of equal pay, treatment, working conditions, and benefits.
When President Jimmy Carter expanded the number of appeals courts, he stipulated that he wanted more women and minorities appointed. Ruth proved to be a cautious, consensus-building jurist and a moderate, who took all facts into account without social or norms bias.
President Clinton nominated her for the Supreme Court in 1993. She received the highest possible rating from the American Bar Association, and was confirmed by Congress with a 96-3 vote.
Her Supreme Court tenure was marked with decisions that emphasized equity over exclusion or inclusion. Her decisions and opinions on abortion focused on a woman’s choice, rather than what institutions thought she should do. There is far more than a simple blog post can speak to, and I recommend you look into the wealth of information on this amazing human being.