Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Life, Legacy, Quotes, Cause of Death

It’s easy to think of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the fiery dissenter in a black robe, the one who became a pop-culture icon in her 80s. But long before the “Notorious RBG” nickname stuck, she spent decades quietly building the legal architecture that would reshape the way America treats women under the law. This article looks at the person behind the myth — her early litigation, her most quoted lines, her unexpected role in LGBTQ rights, and the final chapter that sparked a political firestorm.

Full Name: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ·
Born: March 15, 1933 ·
Died: September 18, 2020 ·
Supreme Court Appointment: 1993 by President Bill Clinton ·
Known For: Gender equality advocacy, landmark dissents, founding the ACLU Women’s Rights Project

The table below compiles her core biographical data into a single reference point.

Six major cases, dozens of opinions, and one distinct voice: Ginsburg’s career breaks into a few key phases — the academic architect, the litigator, the justice, and the icon. Each phase answers a different question about what made her so unusual.

What was so special about Ruth Bader Ginsburg?

Before she was a Supreme Court justice, Ginsburg was a legal architect — and she built the framework for modern gender equality law from scratch. In 1971, before she had any judicial authority, she wrote the brief in Reed v. Reed that persuaded the Supreme Court to strike down a law discriminating against women for the first time under the Equal Protection Clause (Stanford Law School).

Pioneering gender equality litigation

• Co-founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first legal periodical devoted to gender equality (Supreme Court of the United States).
• Argued six gender discrimination cases before the Supreme Court as an ACLU lawyer — and won five. The only loss was a technical one (Stanford Law School).
• In Frontiero v. Richardson (1973), the Court for the first time called gender-based classifications “inherently suspect” — language Ginsburg had drafted (Stanford Law School).

Second woman on the Supreme Court

When President Bill Clinton nominated her in 1993, Ginsburg became only the second woman — and the first Jewish woman — to serve on the Supreme Court (Britannica). She took her seat on August 10, 1993 (Supreme Court of the United States). Over the next 27 years, she authored more than 1,100 opinions (Supreme Court of the United States, Bar Memorial 2023).

Cultural icon and “Notorious RBG”

The “Notorious RBG” nickname, coined in 2013 by law student Shana Knizhnik, stuck because it captured something real: a woman in her 80s who became a symbol of resistance through her dissents. The moniker played on rapper Notorious B.I.G., a Brooklyn native like Ginsburg. It transformed her into an unlikely pop-culture figure — appearing on t-shirts, Halloween costumes, and even a 2018 biopic, On the Basis of Sex, starring Felicity Jones.

What was Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s famous quote?

Ginsburg was deliberate with language. Her most quoted lines weren’t offhand remarks — they were crafted, often rehearsed, and designed to land with the force of a legal conclusion.

Quotes on dissent and equality

Her most iconic phrase — sometimes reduced to two words — was her courtroom statement: “I dissent.” But the full quote from her Shelby County v. Holder (2013) dissent is longer and more telling: “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” (Supreme Court of the United States, Opinion 12-96).

• “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” — from a 2009 interview at the University of Chicago.
• “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” — from a 2015 interview with Elle magazine.
• “I’m a very strong believer in listening and learning from others.” — from a 2016 conversation at the Skidmore College speaker series.

Her most cited dissents

Ginsburg’s Shelby County dissent is widely considered her most famous, but her Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014) dissent also drew national attention. In that case, she forcefully argued that the Court’s decision allowing closely held corporations to refuse contraception coverage on religious grounds opened a dangerous door: “The Court … elides the distinction between laws that impose a ‘substantial burden’ on religious practice and those that do not” (Supreme Court of the United States, Opinion 13-354).

Did Ruth Bader Ginsburg support LGBTQ?

Yes — Ginsburg’s support for LGBTQ rights was consistent across her judicial record, her public statements, and her private actions. She considered it an extension of the equality framework she had spent a lifetime defending.

Voting record on LGBTQ cases

• Voted in favor of marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide (Oyez).
• Joined the majority in United States v. Windsor (2013), striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (Oyez).
• Voted in 2018 to uphold a Colorado baker’s refusal to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple? Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission — Ginsburg dissented. She was on the losing side of a 7–2 ruling.

Her role in Obergefell v. Hodges

Justice Ginsburg didn’t write the majority opinion in Obergefell — Justice Anthony Kennedy did — but she was widely seen as a guiding influence during oral argument. She asked sharp questions that exposed the weaknesses of the state’s position, particularly when the state’s lawyer argued that marriage was defined by “procreation.” Ginsburg pointed out that the state permitted infertile heterosexual couples to marry, which undercut the argument entirely.

Public statements on sexual orientation

Ginsburg officiated at a same-sex wedding in 2013 — that of the Kennedy Center’s Michael Kaiser and economist John R. Glickman — making her the first Supreme Court justice to do so (The New York Times). She said publicly that she hoped to see “a marriage equality amendment to the Constitution” in her lifetime.

What happened when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died?

Her death on September 18, 2020, set off a sequence of events that reshaped the Supreme Court — and American politics — in a way Ginsburg herself had reportedly wanted to avoid.

Circumstances of her death

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at her home in Washington, D.C., from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer (Supreme Court of the United States, Press Release, Sept. 18, 2020). She was 87. Her death was announced by the Supreme Court just over a month before the 2020 presidential election.

National response and tributes

• She became the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol (The Washington Post).
• Former President Barack Obama wrote a personal tribute on Medium, calling her “a warrior for gender equality — before the law, in the workplace, and in the hearts and minds of a generation” (Barack Obama, Medium).
• Flags were lowered at the White House; mourners gathered outside the Supreme Court building.

Impact on Supreme Court vacancy

Within hours of her death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate would vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee — a sharp reversal from his 2016 decision to block consideration of President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland eight months before the election. Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett on September 26, 2020; she was confirmed on October 26, 2020, eight days before the presidential election (U.S. Senate).

The pattern: Ginsburg’s death created a 6–3 conservative majority on the Court — the most lopsided since the 1930s. In the two years that followed, that majority overturned Roe v. Wade, expanded gun rights, and ended race-conscious college admissions.

How many husbands did Ruth Ginsburg have?

One. Ruth Bader Ginsburg married Martin D. Ginsburg in 1954, and they remained married until his death in 2010 (Supreme Court of the United States).

Marriage to Martin D. Ginsburg

Martin — known as “Marty” — was a prominent tax attorney who became one of the first “trailing spouses” in American political history. When Ruth moved to Washington for her federal judgeship, Marty gave up his New York law partnership and became a professor at Georgetown University Law Center so they could stay together (The New York Times, obituary of Martin Ginsburg).

Their partnership and family

• Two children: Jane (born 1955) and James (born 1965). Jane Ginsburg is a professor at Columbia Law School (Columbia Law School).
• Marty famously lobbied President Clinton to nominate his wife to the Supreme Court in 1993, sending a letter that was both humorous and strategic (The New York Times).

Life after Martin’s death

Martin died in 2010 of metastatic cancer. Ruth never remarried. She said in interviews that she missed his cooking and his “zest for life,” but that she found purpose in continuing her work on the Court.

The trade-off: Ginsburg’s marriage was deeply egalitarian at a time when such arrangements were rare — and it gave her the domestic stability to pursue a career that demanded relentless travel and public exposure.

What was Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cause of death?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer (Supreme Court of the United States, Press Release, Sept. 18, 2020). It was her fourth known cancer diagnosis.

Cancer battles

The table below tracks her four cancer diagnoses and treatments over two decades.

The pattern: each time, Ginsburg returned to the bench within weeks — sometimes days — of treatment. In 2020, she missed oral arguments for the first time in her 27-year career.

Final illness and treatment

In July 2020, the Supreme Court announced that Ginsburg was undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of pancreatic cancer. She said in a statement: “I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam. I remain fully able to do that” (Supreme Court of the United States, Press Release, July 17, 2020).

Official cause of death statement

The Supreme Court’s September 18, 2020 press release read: “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg … died this evening surrounded by her family at her home in Washington, D.C., of complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer” (Supreme Court of the United States, Press Release, Sept. 18, 2020).

The implication: Ginsburg’s repeated choice to postpone retirement despite her age and health conditions directly affected the ideological balance of the Court — a decision that remains the subject of intense debate among Democrats and progressives.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life is a study in strategic patience — she built a revolution case by case, then watched some of it be dismantled by the very Court she served on. For American voters who support gender equality and reproductive rights, the implication is clear: Ginsburg’s legacy is now in the hands of the judges she trained, the activists she inspired, and the next generation of lawyers who will choose whether to follow her method or find a new one.