a clerk position under Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. Luckily, with a little help from former professors, she found a clerkship position under U.S District Court Judge Edmund Palmieri, and instead of the normal one year of clerkship service, Palmieri kept her in service from 1959 to 1961. Later in 1961, Ruth became a research associate on a Columbia School of Law project on International Procedure. She eventually became an associate director of the project and met Swedish civil procedure scholar, and Judge Anders Bruzelius. After their research was completed, the two wrote a book together on Swedish civil procedure. During her research at Lund University in Sweden, Ruth observed that women made up twenty-five percent of all law students. As she grew more in tune with Swedish society, Ruth noticed that the Swedes were much further ahead in the field of gender equality. In a 2014 interview with her close friend Kjell-Åke Modéer, Ruth said “I guess I knew inequality existed in the U.S, but it was a part of the scenery.” Ruth’s time in Sweden opened her eyes to the injustices women in the United States faced and fueled her desire to change the way women in the U.S lived. Later in life, Ruth received an honorary and jubilee doctorate from Lund University.
Ruth’s next job was as a professor at Rutgers Law School, starting in 1963 and ending in 1972. At Rutgers, she taught courses relating to women’s experiences with law. Also around that period, she began taking on sex discrimination cases. Her first case that made it to the Supreme Court was Fronterio V. Richardson. Sharron Fronterio was an Air Force lieutenant, and the spouses of active members, who were usually wives at that time, were entitled to increased allowance and comprehensive medical and dental care. Mrs. Fronterio and her husband were denied such benefits. They promptly sued the Secretary of the Department of Defense, Eliot Richardson. The case closed with an 8-1 decision in Mrs. Fronterio's favor.
In 1971, Ruth co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Women’s Rights Project with Brenda Feigen. With this project, she won four out of five cases that made it to the Supreme Court. After her time with the Women’s Rights Project, Ruth served on the ACLU General Counsel from 1973-1980, as well as the ACLU National Board of Directors from 1974-1980.
After her time with the ACLU, Ruth served on the Board and Executive committee of the American Bar Association from 1979-1989, as well as an editor for the American Bar Association’s Law Review from 1972-1978. Ruth also served on the Council of American Law from 1978-1993.
In 1980, Ruth was nominated for the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit by President Jimmy Carter. She served until her Supreme Courtship started. In 1993, Ruth was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve on the United States Supreme Court. During her confirmation hearing, Ruth brought up social issues she was passionate about and hoped to bring change to while on the Supreme Court. On August 10th, 1980, Ruth was sworn onto the Supreme Court. She became the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme Court, as well as the second woman and Jewish person to serve.
Ruth’s first case as a judge on the Supreme Court was US v Virginia. For much of its existence, the Virginia Military Institute had a male-only admission policy. Many women who wanted to enroll at the school sued the school on the basis that their policy violated the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the women who sued in a 7-1 vote. Ruth led and represented the majority in the verdict. Justice Antonin Scalia was the only Justice to dissent. It was clear that Justice Scalia and Justice Ginsburg had very different political beliefs. Despite that, they quickly became friends, both enjoying opera and frequently watching performances together.
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