As her time on the Supreme Court lengthened, Ruth became famous for her well-worded and articulate dissents, causing her to gain the nickname “Notorious RBG” after the rapper Notorious B.I.G. Ruth also became well known for her various collars that she wore over her robes, because she and Sandra Day O’Connor thought that it would be suitable for them to pair a piece of typically feminine clothing with their judiciary robes. In the 2018 biopic RBG, Ruth took some time showing the camera some of her collars and where and when she wore them. She had one for every occasion, including delivering dissents, one for pictures, one for oral arguments, and received many as gifts.
Ruth was fairly left-leaning, and in more recent years, the court and United States Congress has become more right-leaning. Ruth, however, stayed firm in her beliefs. During the 2016 presidential race, Ruth voiced her dislike for then-candidate Donald Trump in an interview. A week after the 2016 election, Ruth made a cameo in a Washington National Opera production of “The Daughter of the Regiment”, playing the role of the Duchess Krakenthorp, a role that included a speaking part Originally, her line was to give permission for the opera’s main characters to marry, and she jokingly suggested that the Duchess should ask to see the heroine’s birth certificate. This is a reference to Donald Trump’s continuous claims that President Obama’s birth certificate was falsified, and that President Obama was not born in America. This caused some backlash; however, most saw the line as an innocent poke at the new president.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18th, 2020, due to complications of pancreatic cancer, which she had been struggling with for a few years. She was an extraordinary person, and she will be greatly missed.
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This Spotlight article was written by Quinn D.