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A resolution honoring the life of United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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WHEREAS, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born on March 15, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York; and
WHEREAS, Ginsburg graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in 1954, earning high honors in Government; and
WHEREAS, upon graduating from Cornell, she attended Harvard Law School as one of only nine women in a class of 500 students; and
WHEREAS, Ginsburg often faced gender discrimination while at Harvard, and was frequently asked to explain how she felt about taking a spot in the program away from a man; and
WHEREAS, Ginsburg transferred to Columbia in 1958 for her final year of law school, where she served on the Law Review and graduated at the top of her class in 1959; and
WHEREAS, after graduating from law school, Ginsburg served as a law clerk for the Honorable Edmund L. Palmieri, Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, before going on to serve as a research associate for the Columbia Law School and then as a Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law, where she taught until 1972; and
WHEREAS, Ginsburg returned to Columbia Law School in 1972, becoming the school’s first fully tenured female law professor; and
WHEREAS, while teaching at Columbia, Ginsburg also served as the general counsel for the ACLU from 1973-1980; and
WHEREAS, Ginsburg was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and nominated by President Bill Clinton as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1993; and
WHEREAS, during her tenure on the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg was a staunch advocate for gender equality and women’s rights, which included authoring the court’s opinion in the United States v. Virginia case, ruling that qualified women could not be denied admission to the Virginia Military Institute; and
WHEREAS, Justice Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020 due to complications of cancer; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the Metropolitan Council honor and celebrate Justice Ginsburg’s life, her love of the law, and her passion for equality.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:
Section 1. The Metropolitan Council hereby goes on record as honoring the life of United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Section 2. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.