On behalf of the Brookings Institution, I am profoundly saddened by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and offer my deepest condolences to her family, colleagues, and extended community. With her passing America has lost a legend of the legal profession, and a shining beacon of moral virtue and leadership.
By any measure Justice Ginsburg lived an extraordinary, trailblazing life of service, scholarship, and jurisprudence. She challenged stereotypes and fought for equality for all as a teacher, an advocate, and a jurist, boldly challenging legacies of discrimination and exclusion that have held back too many while inspiring generations of Americans who rightly revere her genius, courage, and humanity. Justice Ginsburg’s landmark opinions on the Supreme Court have advanced the rights of women and minorities, protected our land, water, and air, and empowered the vulnerable to assert their equality under the law.
To lose Justice Ginsburg amidst such a painful moment in our nation’s history feels especially cruel. As America continues to grapple with the catastrophic impacts of COVID-19 and the long-overdue reckonings on our legacies of systemic racism and inequality, we will profoundly miss Justice Ginsburg’s brilliant mind, moral clarity, and unflinching pursuit of a more perfect Union. “Fight for the things that you care about,” she said, “but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Justice Ginsburg has earned her rest, and it is up to us to carry on that fight.