Reactions to Death of Justice Ginsburg & OBA Tribute Video
“This is a sad day for our country and our professor. We have lost an outstanding jurist and champion of gender equality. Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought tenaciously to protect the rule of law and inspired generations of lawyers.”
Steve Mattoon
Nebraska State Bar Association President
“Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her – a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”
John Roberts
Supreme Court Chief Justice
“Renowned for her brilliant mind and her powerful dissents at the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg demonstrated that one can disagree without being disagreeable toward one’s colleagues or different points of view. Her opinions, including well-known decisions regarding the legal equality of women and the disabled, have inspired all Americans, and generations of great legal minds.”
Donald Trump
President of the United States
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg stood for all of us. She fought for all of us. ... It was my honor to preside over her confirmation hearings, and to strongly support her accession to the Supreme Court. In the decades since, she was consistently and reliably the voice that pierced to the heart of every issue, protected the constitutional rights of every American, and never failed in the fierce and unflinching defense of liberty and freedom.”
Joe Biden
Democratic Presidential Candidates
“With the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, America has lost one of the most extraordinary Justices ever to serve on the Supreme Court. She was a magnificent judge and a wonderful person — a brilliant lawyer with a caring heart, common sense, fierce devotion to fairness and equality, and boundless courage in the face of her own adversity.”
Bill Clinton
Former President of the United States
“She dedicated many of her 87 remarkable years to the pursuit of justice and equality, and she inspired more than one generation of women and girls.”
George W. Bush
Former President of the United States
“Through the many challenges both professionally and personally, she was the essence of grace, civility and dignity. She was a superb judge who gave her best and exacted the best from each of us, whether in agreement or disagreement. And, as outstanding as she was as a judge, she was an even better colleague – unfailingly gracious, thoughtful, and civil.”
Clarence Thomas
Supreme Court Associate Justice
“Ruth reached out to encourage and assist me in my career, as she did for so many others, long before I came to the Supreme Court. And she guided and inspired me, on matters large and small, once I became her colleague. I will miss her — her intellect, her generosity, her sly wit, her manifest integrity, and her endless capacity for work — for the rest of my life.”
Elena Kagan
Supreme Court Associate Justice
“On behalf of the Department of Justice, I extend my deepest sympathy on the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg led one of the great lives in the history of American law. She was a brilliant and successful litigator, an admired court of appeals judge, and a profoundly influential Supreme Court Justice. For all her achievements in those roles, she will perhaps be remembered most for inspiring women in the legal profession and beyond. She and I did not agree on every issue, but her legal ability, personal integrity, and determination were beyond doubt. She leaves a towering legacy, and all who seek justice mourn her loss.”
William Barr
Attorney General of the United States
“As a Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg did as she testified in her confirmation hearing, serving as a “guardian of the great charter that has served as our Nation’s fundamental instrument of government for over 200 years.” It is time for us to share in that responsibility, as in her testimony she stated, ‘Justices do not guard constitutional rights alone. Courts share that profound responsibility with Congress, the President, the States and the people. Constant realization of a more perfect Union, the Constitution’s aspiration, requires the widest, broadest, deepest participation on matters of government and government policy.’”
Diane Uchimiya
Creighton Legal Clinic Program Director
“Justice Ginsburg was a giant. There are few, if any, people in American history who did as much for gender equality and women’s rights than she did. As a Justice, perhaps her most famous opinion was also in the area of women’s rights, but she also master of areas like Civil Procedure and Federal Courts, difficult, more technical areas of the law that receive less public attention but matter tremendously in how courts administer justice. She understood how the law impacted ordinary people’s lives, and she devoted her life to trying to protect under-privileged, under-represented groups. Most Supreme Court Justices fade from historical memory over time, but I am quite certain that a hundred years from now, Americans will still remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg and recognize that she devoted her life to making our union more perfect.”
Eric Burger
Nebraska Professor of Law
“The thing that strikes me the most about her is how she wrote and how she spoke about the law. One of the things I enjoyed most about her legal experience was listening to her discuss the cases. She had just a great way of enunciating and discussing the legal parameters on both sides of the issues, in a very methodical and easy to listen to way.” In terms of her Jewish connection, her family history always played into that part of her identity. She didn’t hide from it at all. When I think of her impact in society, I just have to look at how other people have responded to her passing. “I spent most of my Rosh Hashanah time thinking about her and not so much thinking about the liturgy, the service, I was thinking about her life as a legal scholar, as a supreme court justice, and as a woman, throughout all of Rosh Hashanah.”
Alan Potash
Jewish Federation of Omaha CEO
“Justice Ginsburg spoke about growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust and how it changed her view on the world, she was quoted quite often as saying that being Jewish made her feel like an outsider which made her empathetic for those living on the outside looking in.”
Steven Abraham
Beth El Synagogue Rabbi
“Throughout her career she showed the positive power of the law. Like Thurgood Marshall before her, she was as noteworthy for her work as a pioneering lawyer for women’s equality as for her service on the bench. She was a model for lawyers and law students, America’s foremost feminist lawyer, before she ever donned a judicial robe. We need more judges who come to the bench after working for the public good, as Justice Ginsburg did. In recent years, especially, she was a passionate voice for democracy. Her dissent in Shelby County v. Holder, the case that gutted the Voting Rights Act, stands as among the most prophetic in the Court’s history. ‘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,’ she wrote. Ginsburg was right. The decision unleashed voter suppression unseen since the Jim Crow era.”
Michael Waldman
Brennan Center for Justice President
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a champion for the Constitution, the rule of law and justice. She stood up to injustice, fought for what is right and more often than not, she won. We, and our nation, are all better because of her legacy. She was more than a feminist icon. She fought to include women in the fundamental statement that defines America — We The People.”
Jane Kleeb
Nebraska Democratic Party Chair
“As well as being a most highly regarded and respected leader on the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a fearless trailblazer, advocate, and at times, dissenter. Through her life and service, she set the standard for civility and collegiality, exemplifying for all of us how people with strong views can conduct their business and their negotiations — with kindness, courtesy, commonsense, and great effect. In so many ways, she embodied the greatest of American virtues and values, and the Supreme Court and our nation greatly benefited from her distinguished service and contributions. Her loss is staggering, but her legacy will continue to inspire generations of Americans.”
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
“As only the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court and a strong advocate for gender equality, she was a hero to women and girls across America – and to boys and men, too.”
Brian Stoller
Temple Israel Rabbi
“Justice Ginsburg worked until her last moments to protect democracy and freedom. I hope she’s already drinking wine with her beloved Marty and enjoying some much deserved rest.”
Kendra Huard Fershee
Creighton Law Professor
“That Justice Ginsburg died as the sun began to set marking the onset of Rosh Hashanah is in our Jewish tradition symbolic. We’re told that only the truly righteous, those we need the most, pass on Rosh Hashanah, for we need them until the very last minute. In the words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice and co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU, “Women’s rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda, trained on the equal dignity and ability to live in freedom all people should enjoy.” Ginsburg has been a pioneer for gender equality throughout her distinguished career. Ruth’s legacy is one we will remain vigilant to protect.”
Jennifer Koom
National Council of Jewish Women Nebraska President
“She will rightly be remembered for her unparalleled grasp of the law and her methodical brilliance. As a litigator, she secured vital protections against discrimination and laid the groundwork for future victories. As Supreme Court Justice, she shaped American jurisprudence for the better. Ginsburg approached every case with clarity, grace and conviction. When she found herself on the other side of a majority opinion, she demonstrated the value of dissent. What she was able to accomplish in her life personally and professionally is an inspiration to us all. From the courts to the halls of power, and in the hearts and minds of countless Americans, Justice Ginsburg will continue to inspire us and it’s up to each of us to honor her legacy to ensure equality means equality for everyone.”
Danielle Conrad
ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director
“Ginsburg was a special friend of the ABA, which honored her with many awards, including the Thurgood Marshall Award in 1999 in recognition of her development and advancement of gender equality law and the ABA’s highest honor, the American Bar Association Medal, in 2010. Ginsburg served as a member of the ABA Journal Board of Editors from 1972-78. She helped dedicate the ABA’s current office space in Washington, D.C., in 2013 and has a conference room there named in her honor.”
American Bar Association
“A truly great American has died. The National Bar Association mourns the passing of The Honorable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the most outstanding, compassionate crusaders for justice to ever sit on the Supreme Court of The United States. She was a champion for justice for all people, unwavering in her quest to ensure the rights and dignity of all Americans.”
National Bar Association
“Justice Ginsburg will be best remembered as a legal pioneer and advocate for women’s rights. But she should also be remembered as a lawyer’s lawyer. Her success as an advocate took root in large measure in her discipline in selecting cases and in carefully reading precedent — both for what it included and what it omitted. It’s been said that what was at the root of the famous Ginsburg/Scalia friendship was their shared extra-curricular tastes, most notably opera. That’s true, but it’s only part of the story. Their shared respect for good legal craftsmanship was also a central, if largely overlooked, foundation for their friendship. Both cared a lot about the force of reason in their opinions. Each firmly believed that mature people could in good faith take different views on even the most important legal questions without being histrionic or posing a threat to their adversary’s feelings. Instead, they saw their differences as providing each other with an opportunity to sharpen their own thinking. ... We can be grateful for the legacy of robust argument and warm good faith she leaves us.”
Lee Liberman Otis
Federalist Society Senior Vice President
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one of the most consequential figures in American law and democracy. We must, first and foremost, lift up the extraordinary contributions of Justice Ginsburg as a lawyer and a justice. Every woman in this country owes her an enormous debt, and every American has benefitted from her work to clarify the meaning of equality in our country. She was a powerful member of that exemplary group of lawyers who helped give real meaning to the words etched onto the exterior of the Supreme Court: ‘equal justice under law.’”
Sherrilyn Ifill
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Director
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