Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office August 10, 1993
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Byron White
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
In office June 30, 1980 – August 10, 1993
Nominated by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Harold Leventhal
Succeeded by	David Tatel
Personal details
Born	Ruth Joan Bader (1933-03-15) March 15, 1933 (age 79) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic Party[1]
Spouse(s)	Martin Ginsburg (1954–2010)
Children	Jane Ginsburg James Steven Ginsburg
Alma mater	Cornell University Harvard University Columbia University
Religion	Judaism

Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15, 1933) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice (after Sandra Day O'Connor) and the first Jewish female justice.

She is generally viewed as belonging to the liberal wing of the Court. Ginsburg spent a considerable portion of her legal career before becoming a judge as an advocate for the advancement of women's rights as a constitutional principle. She advocated as a volunteer lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union and was a member of its board of directors and one of its general counsel in the 1970s. She was a professor at Rutgers School of Law–Newark and Columbia Law School. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Early life and education[link]

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Ruth Joan Bader was the second daughter of Nathan and Celia (née Amster) Bader. The family nicknamed her "Kiki".^[2] They belonged to the East Midwood Jewish Center, where she took her religious confirmation seriously. At age thirteen, Ruth acted as the "camp rabbi" at a Jewish summer program at Camp Che-Na-Wah in Minerva, New York.^[3]

Her mother took an active role in her education, taking her to the library often. Bader attended James Madison High School, whose law program later dedicated a courtroom in her honor. Her older sister died when she was very young.^{[clarification needed]} Her mother struggled with cancer throughout Ruth's high school years and died the day before her graduation.^[2]

She graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government^[4] on June 23, 1954, and that fall enrolled at Harvard Law School, where she was one of only nine women in a class of more than five hundred. When her husband took a job in New York City, she transferred to Columbia Law School and became the first woman to be on two major law reviews, the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review. In 1959, she earned her Bachelor of Laws at Columbia and tied for first in her class.^[2][5] In 2009 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Willamette University, in 2010 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Princeton University,^[6] and in 2011 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University.^[7]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

In 1960, despite a strong recommendation from the dean of Harvard Law School, Justice Felix Frankfurter turned down Ginsburg for a clerkship position because she was a woman.^[8][9] Later that year, Ginsburg began a clerkship for Judge Edmund L. Palmieri of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

From 1961 to 1963 she was a research associate and then associate director of the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure, learning Swedish to co-author a book on judicial procedure in Sweden. Ginsburg conducted extensive research for her book at the University of Lund in Sweden.^[10]

She was a professor of law at Rutgers from 1963 to 1972. In 1970, she co-founded the Women's Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal in the U.S. to focus exclusively on women's rights.^[11] From 1972 until 1980, she taught at Columbia, where she became the first tenured woman and co-authored the first law school casebook on sex discrimination. She also taught in Tulane University Law School's summer-abroad program.^[12] In 1977, she became a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

In 1972, Ginsburg co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and, in 1973, she became the ACLU's General Counsel. As the chief litigator for the Women's Rights Project, she briefed and argued several landmark cases in front of the Supreme Court, such as Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971), wherein the Court extended the protections of the Equal Protection Clause to women for the first time. She also argued Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677 (1973) and Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636 (1975), which supported the ultimate development and application of the intermediate scrutiny Equal Protection standard of review for legal classifications based on sex. She attained a reputation as a skilled oral advocate, and her work directly led to the end of gender discrimination in many areas of the law.^[13]

Her last case as a lawyer before the Court was 1978's Duren v. Missouri, which challenged laws and practices making jury duty voluntary for women in that state. Ginsburg viewed optional jury duty as a message that women's service was unnecessary to important government functions. At the end of Ginsburg's oral presentation, then-Associate Justice William Rehnquist asked Ginsburg, "You won't settle for putting Susan B. Anthony on the new dollar, then?"^[14] Ginsburg, being cautious, did not respond to his question.

Judicial career[link]

Ginsburg officially accepts the nomination from President Bill Clinton on June 14, 1993.

U.S. Court of Appeals[link]

President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 14, 1980, to the seat of recently deceased judge Harold Leventhal. She served there for thirteen years, until joining the Supreme Court. During her 13-year tenure on the D.C. Circuit, Ginsburg made 57 hires for law clerk, intern, and secretary positions. At her Supreme Court confirmation hearing, it was revealed that none of those hired had been African-Americans, a fact for which Ginsburg (an "aggressive support[er] [of] disparate-impact statistics as evidence of intentional discrimination") was sharply criticized.^[15]

Supreme Court[link]

Nomination and confirmation[link]

President Bill Clinton nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on June 14, 1993, to fill the seat vacated by retiring Justice Byron White. Ginsburg was recommended to Clinton by then-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.^[5]

During her subsequent testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the confirmation hearings, she refused to answer questions regarding her personal views on most issues or how she would adjudicate certain hypothetical situations as a Supreme Court Justice. A number of Senators on the committee came away frustrated, with unanswered questions about how Ginsburg planned to make the transition from an advocate for causes she personally held dear, to a justice on the Supreme Court. Despite this, Ginsburg refused to discuss her beliefs about the limits and proper role of jurisprudence, saying, "Were I to rehearse here what I would say and how I would reason on such questions, I would act injudiciously".

At the same time, Ginsburg did answer questions relating to some potentially controversial issues. For instance, she affirmed her belief in a constitutional right to privacy, and explicated at some length on her personal judicial philosophy and thoughts regarding gender equality.^[16] The U.S. Senate confirmed her by a 96-to-3 vote^[18] and she took her judicial oath on August 10, 1993.^[19]

Supreme Court jurisprudence[link]

(left to right) Sandra Day O'Connor, Sonia Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Elena Kagan on October 1, 2010

Ginsburg characterizes her performance on the Court as a cautious approach to adjudication, and argued in a speech shortly before her nomination to the Court that "[m]easured motions seem to me right, in the main, for constitutional as well as common law adjudication. Doctrinal limbs too swiftly shaped, experience teaches, may prove unstable."^[20] Ginsburg has urged that the Court allow for dialogue with elected branches, while others argue that would inevitably lead to politicizing the Court.

Although Ginsburg has consistently supported abortion rights and joined in the Court's opinion striking down Nebraska's partial-birth abortion law in Stenberg v. Carhart 530 U.S. 914 (2000) she has criticized the Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973) as terminating a nascent, democratic movement to liberalize abortion laws which might have built a more durable consensus in support of abortion rights.^{[citation needed]} She discussed her views on abortion rights and sexual equality in a 2009 New York Times interview, in which she said regarding abortion that "[t]he basic thing is that the government has no business making that choice for a woman."^[21] One statement she made during the interview ("Frankly, I had thought at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of.")^[21] was criticized by conservative commentator Michael Gerson as reflecting an "attitude . . . that abortion is economically important to a 'woman of means' and useful in reducing the number of social undesirables."^[22]

Ginsburg has also been an advocate for using foreign law and norms to shape U.S. law in judicial opinions,^[23] in contrast to the textualist views of her colleagues Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito. Despite their fundamental differences, Ginsburg considers Scalia her closest colleague on the Court, and they often dine and attend the opera together.^[24]

Notable cases[link]

This section requires expansion with: with short summaries about each decision.

• United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996) Court Opinion. Virginia Military Institute's male-only admission policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
• United States v. O'Hagan, 521 U.S. 642 (1997) Court Opinion
• Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) Court Opinion
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc., 528 U.S. 167 (2000) Court Opinion
• Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000) Dissenting
• Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003) Court Opinion
• Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., 544 U.S. 280 (2005) Court Opinion
• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007) Dissenting
• Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007) Dissenting
• Ricci v. DeStefano, 129 S. Ct. 2658 (2009) Dissenting

Ginsburg Precedent[link]

More than a decade passed between the two successive terms in which Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer were appointed and the date another justice left the Court. By that time, both the Congress and the White House had switched to Republican control. When O'Connor announced her retirement in the summer of 2005, with Chief Justice Rehnquist's death a few months later, both sides began to squabble about just what kinds of questions President George W. Bush's nominees would be expected to answer. The debate heated up when hearings for Roberts began in September 2005. Republicans used an argument they called the "Ginsburg Precedent", which centered on Ginsburg's confirmation hearings.^[25] In those hearings, she did not answer questions involving matters such as abortion, gay rights, separation of church and state, and disability rights. Only one witness testified against Ginsburg at her confirmation hearings, and the hearings lasted only four days.^[25][26]

In a September 28, 2005, speech at Wake Forest University, Ginsburg said that Roberts' refusal to answer questions during his Senate confirmation hearings on some cases was "unquestionably right".^[27] Democrats had taken issue with Roberts' refusal to answer certain questions, saying Ginsburg had made her views very clear, even if she did not comment on some specific matters, and that because of her lengthy tenure as a judge, many of her legal opinions were already available for review.

During Roberts' confirmation hearings, Senators Joe Biden (Delaware), Orrin Hatch (Utah), and Roberts himself brought up Ginsburg's hearings several times as they argued over what questions she answered and what Roberts was expected to answer. The precedent was again cited several times during the confirmation hearings for Justice Samuel Alito.

1997 vice-presidential inauguration[link]

Ginsburg administered, at his request, Vice President Al Gore's oath of office to a second term during the second presidential inauguration of Clinton on January 20, 1997.

2012 visit to Egypt[link]

In January 2012, Ginsburg went to Egypt for four days of discussions with judges, law school faculty, law school students, and legal experts. Part of the purpose of her visit was to "listen and learn" as Egypt began its constitutional transition to democracy. She also answered questions about the American justice system and the American constitution. Ginsburg told students at Cairo University that she was "inspired" by the Egyptian revolution.^[28][29]

In an interview with Alhayat TV, she stated that the first requirement of a new constitution should be that it "safeguard basic fundamental human rights, like our First Amendment". Asked if Egypt should model its new constitution on those of other nations, she said Egypt should be "aided by all Constitution-writing that has gone on since the end of World War II", adding, "I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a Constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the Constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary. ... It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done. Much more recent than the U.S. Constitution." She said the U.S. was fortunate to have a constitution authored by "very wise" men but pointed out that in the 1780s, no women were able to participate in the process and slavery still existed in the U.S.^[30]

Personal life[link]

A few days after graduating from Cornell, Ruth Bader married Martin D. Ginsburg, later an internationally prominent tax lawyer, and then (after they moved from New York to Washington DC, upon her accession to the D.C. Circuit) professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. Their daughter Jane (born 1955) is a professor at Columbia Law School, and their son James Steven Ginsburg (born 1965) is founder and president of Cedille Records, a classical-music recording company based in Chicago, Illinois. After the birth of their daughter, her husband was diagnosed with testicular cancer. During this period, Ginsburg attended class and took notes for both of them; typed her husband's papers to his dictation; and cared for their daughter and her sick husband – all while making the Harvard Law Review. They celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary on June 23, 2010. Martin Ginsburg died of complications from metastatic cancer on June 27, 2010.^[31]

Some Supreme Court justices and other prominent figures attend the Red Mass held every fall in Washington, D.C. at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Ginsburg explained her reason for no longer attending: "I went one year, and I will never go again, because this sermon was outrageously anti-abortion," Ginsburg said in the book Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish by Abigail Pogrebin. "Even the Scalias – although they're much of that persuasion – were embarrassed for me."^[32]

Illness[link]

Ginsburg was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999 and underwent surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. During the process, she did not miss a day on the bench.^[33] On February 5, 2009, she again underwent surgery related to pancreatic cancer.^[34] Ginsburg's tumor was discovered at an early stage.^[34] Ginsburg was released from a New York hospital, eight days after the surgery and heard oral arguments again four days later. On September 24, 2009, Ginsburg was hospitalized for lightheadedness following an outpatient treatment for iron deficiency and was released the following day.^[35]

Plans[link]

With the retirement of John Paul Stevens in 2010, Ginsburg became, at 77 years of age, the eldest justice on the Court.^[36] Despite rumors she would retire as a result of old age, poor health, and the death of her husband,^[37][38] she denied she was planning to step down. In an August 2010 interview, Ginsburg stated that the Court's work was helping her cope with the death of her husband and suggested she would serve until at least 2012 when a painting that used to hang in her office is due to be returned to her.^[36] She also expressed a wish to emulate Justice Louis Brandeis, who retired at 82,^[36] an age that Ginsburg would attain in 2015.

Recognition[link]

In 2009, Forbes named her among the 100 Most Powerful Women.^[39]

See also[link]

Bill Clinton U.S. Supreme Court candidates Demographics of the U.S. Supreme Court List of Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court List of law clerks of the U.S. Supreme Court

List of U.S. Supreme Court cases during the Rehnquist Court List of U.S. Supreme Court cases during the Roberts Court List of U.S. Supreme Court Justices by time in office

References[link]

1. ^ As on Bench, Voting Styles Are Personal
2. ^ ^{a b c} Staff writer. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Undated. Oyez.org. Accessed August 24, 2009.
3. ^ "Equal: How Women Reshape American Law, p. 24". http://www.oyez.org/justices/ruth_bader_ginsburg. ^{[clarification needed]}
4. ^ Scanlon, Jennifer (1999). Significant contemporary American feminists: a biographical sourcebook. Greenwood Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-313-30125-4. OCLC 237329773. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Toobin, Jeffrey (2007). The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. p. 82. New York. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-51640-2.
6. ^ "Princeton awards five honorary degrees". Princeton University. http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S27/54/12S69/. Retrieved June 1, 2010. 
7. ^ "Harvard awards 9 honorary degrees". Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. May 26, 2011. http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/05/harvard-to-award-nine-honorary-degrees/. Retrieved June 29, 2011. 
8. ^ Lewis, Neil (June 15, 2993). "The Supreme Court: Woman in the News; Rejected as a Clerk, Chosen as a Justice: Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg". The New York Times (registration required). http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/15/us/supreme-court-woman-rejected-clerk-chosen-justice-ruth-joan-bader-ginsburg.html. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 
9. ^ Greenhouse, Linda (August 30, 2006). "Women Suddenly Scarce Among Justices’ Clerks". The New York Times (registration required). http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/washington/30scotus.html. Retrieved June 27, 2010. 
10. ^ Bayer, Linda N. (2000). Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Women of Achievement). Philadelphia. Chelsea House. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7910-5287-7.
11. ^ "About the Reporter". http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~wrlr/index.html. Retrieved June 29, 2008. 
12. ^ "Summer Abroad". Tulane University Law School. http://www.law.tulane.edu/abroad/index.aspx?ekmensel=c580fa7b_168_0_4386_1. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
13. ^ Pullman, Sandra (March 7, 2006). "Tribute: The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and WRP Staff". ACLU.org. Accessed November 18, 2010.
14. ^ Von Drehle, David (July 19, 1993). "Redefining Fair With a Simple Careful Assault – Step-by-Step Strategy Produced Strides for Equal Protection". The Washington Post. Accessed August 24, 2009.
15. ^ Whelan, Ed (May 12, 2010) What Happened to the Consensus-Builder?, National Review Online
16. ^ Bennard, Kristina Silja (August 2005), The Confirmation Hearings of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Answering Questions While Maintaining Judicial Impartiality, Washington, D.C.: American Constitution Society, archived from the original on January 14, 2006, http://web.archive.org/web/20060114232749/http://www.acslaw.org/views/Bennard+re+Ginsburg+confirmation.pdf, retrieved May 11, 2010 
17. ^ "Project Vote Smart". http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_id=8630. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
18. ^ The three negative votes came from conservative Republican Senators – Don Nickles (Oklahoma), Robert C. Smith (New Hampshire) and Jesse Helms (North Carolina), while Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (Democrat – Michigan) did not vote.^[17]
19. ^ "Members of the Supreme Court of the United States". Supreme Court of the United States. http://www.supremecourt.gov/about/members.aspx. Retrieved April 26, 2010. 
20. ^ DLC: Judge Not by William A. Galston
21. ^ ^{a b} Bazelon, Emily (July 7, 2009). "The Place of Women on the Court". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/magazine/12ginsburg-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all. Retrieved September 1, 2010. 
22. ^ Gerson, Michael (July 17, 2009). "Justice Ginsburg in Context". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/16/AR2009071603485.html?hpid=opinionsbox1. Retrieved August 24, 2009. 
23. ^ LIPTAK, ADAM (11 April 2009). "Ginsburg Shares Views on Influence of Foreign Law on Her Court, and Vice Versa". NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/us/12ginsburg.html. Retrieved 7 March 2012. 
24. ^ Biskupic, Joan (December 25, 2007). "Ginsburg, Scalia Strike a Balance" USA Today. Accessed August 24, 2009.
25. ^ ^{a b} Comiskey, Michael (June 1994). "The Usefulness of Senate Confirmation Hearings for Judicial Nominees: The Case of Ruth Bader Ginsburg". PS: Political Science & Politics (American Political Science Association) 27 (2): 224–227. JSTOR 420276. 
26. ^ Conroy, Scott (February 11, 2009). "Madame Justice". CBS News Sunday Morning. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/01/sunday/main2054138.shtml. Retrieved January 1, 2012. 
27. ^ "Bench Memos: Ginsburg on Roberts Hearings". National Review Online. September 29, 2005. http://bench.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWRmZjliMWFlMmQzY2ZlZTMzMjgyMGE2MGJjZjFkNDU=. Retrieved September 18, 2009. 
28. ^ "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Visits Egypt." (Press release). U.S. Embassy Cairo. January 28, 2012. http://egypt.usembassy.gov/pr012812.html. Retrieved February 5, 2012. 
29. ^ "Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Expresses Admiration for Egyptian Revolution and Democratic Transition" (Press release). U.S. Embassy Cairo. February 1, 2012. http://egypt.usembassy.gov/pr20113.html. Retrieved February 5, 2012. 
30. ^ de Vogue, Ariane (February 3, 2012). "Ginsburg Likes S. Africa as Model for Egypt". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/ginsburg-likes-s-africa-as-model-for-egypt/. Retrieved February 7, 2012. 
31. ^ "Husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies". The Washington Post. June 27, 2010. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2010/06/husband-of-supreme-court-justi.html. Retrieved June 27, 2010. 
32. ^ "Biden, 5 justices attend annual 'Red Mass'". The Chicago Tribune. October 3, 2010. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-red-mass-court,0,5851502.story?track=rss. Retrieved October 3, 2010. 
33. ^ Garry, Stephanie (February 6, 2009). "For Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Hopeful Signs in Grim News about Pancreatic Cancer". St. Petersburg Times. Accessed August 24, 2009.
34. ^ ^{a b} Sherman, Mark (February 6, 2009). "Ginsburg could lead to Obama appointment". AP, republished by MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29051442/. Retrieved September 18, 2009. 
35. ^ "Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Taken to Hospital". Reuters , republished by New York Times. September 24, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/09/24/news/news-us-usa-court-ginsburg.html. Retrieved September 24, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
36. ^ ^{a b c} Sherman, Mark (August 3, 2010). "Ginsburg says no plans to leave Supreme Court". Boston Globe. Associated Press. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/08/03/ginsburg_says_no_plans_to_leave_supreme_court/. Retrieved February 13, 2011. 
37. ^ de Vogue, Ariana (February 4, 2010). "White House Prepares for Possibility of 2 Supreme Court Vacancies". ABC. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Supreme_Court/white-house-prepares-possibility-supreme-court-vacancies/story?id=9740077&page=1. Retrieved August 6, 2010. 
38. ^ "At Supreme Court, no one rushes into retirement". USA Today. July 13, 2008. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-07-13-scotus-election_N.htm. Retrieved August 6, 2010. 
39. ^ "The 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. August 19, 2009. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/11/power-women-09_The-100-Most-Powerful-Women_Rank_2.html. 

Bibliography[link]

• Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X. 
• Garner, Bryan A.; Ginsburg, Ruth Bader (foreword) (2009). "Foreword". Garner on Language and Writing. Chicago: American Bar Association. ISBN 978-1-59031-588-0. 

External links[link]

• Supreme Court official site with biographies
• Profile at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center
• Legal resources at the Law Library of Congress
• Biography and writings at the Legal Information Institute
• Profile at the Oyez Project
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Profile at the Internet Movie Database
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Ruth Bader Ginsburg in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Profile at Notable Names Database
• Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Ruth Bader Ginsburg from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Legal offices
Preceded by Harold Leventhal	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 1980–1993	Succeeded by David Tatel
Preceded by Byron White	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1993–present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Clarence Thomas as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	Order of Precedence of the United States as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	Succeeded by Stephen Breyer as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

v t e Judicial opinions of Ruth Bader Ginsburg U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1980–1993); by calendar year 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Supreme Court of the United States (August 10, 1993 – present); by term 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Supreme Court of the United States

The Rehnquist Court Chief Justice: William Hubbs Rehnquist (1986–2005) 1993–1994: H. Blackmun | J.P. Stevens | S.D. O'Connor | A. Scalia | A. Kennedy | D. Souter | C. Thomas | R.B. Ginsburg 1994–2005: J.P. Stevens | S.D. O'Connor | A. Scalia | A. Kennedy | D. Souter | C. Thomas | R.B. Ginsburg | S. Breyer The Roberts Court Chief Justice: John Glover Roberts, Jr. (2005–present) 2005–2006: J.P. Stevens S.D. O'Connor A. Scalia A. Kennedy D. Souter C. Thomas R.B. Ginsburg S. Breyer 2006–2009: J.P. Stevens A. Scalia A. Kennedy D. Souter C. Thomas R.B. Ginsburg S. Breyer S. Alito 2009–2010: J.P. Stevens A. Scalia A. Kennedy C. Thomas R.B. Ginsburg S. Breyer S. Alito S. Sotomayor 2010–present: A. Scalia A. Kennedy C. Thomas R.B. Ginsburg S. Breyer S. Alito S. Sotomayor E. Kagan

Persondata
Name	Ginsburg, Ruth Joan Bader
Alternative names
Short description	U.S. Supreme Court justice
Date of birth	March 15, 1933
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York
Date of death	living
Place of death

Domingo speaks at the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors on October 31, 2008, in Washington, DC.

Plácido Domingo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈplaθiðo ðoˈmiŋɡo]; born 21 January 1941),^[1] born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range. In March 2008, he debuted in his 128th opera role,^[2] and as of July 2011, his 136 roles give Domingo more roles than any other tenor.^[3]

One of The Three Tenors, he has also taken on conducting opera and concert performances, and he is the General Director of the Los Angeles Opera in California.

Biography and career[link]

Early years[link]

Plácido Domingo (1979)

Plácido Domingo was born on January 21, 1941, in the distrito de Retiro^[4] section of Madrid, Spain, and in 1949 moved to Mexico with his family, who ran a zarzuela company. He studied piano at first privately and later at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City.

In 1957, Domingo made his first professional appearance, performing with his mother in a concert at Mérida, Yucatán. He made his opera debut performing in Manuel Fernández Caballero's zarzuela, Gigantes y cabezudos, singing a baritone role. At that time, he was working with his parents' zarzuela company, taking baritone roles and as an accompanist for other singers. Among his first performances was a minor role in the first Mexican production of My Fair Lady where he was also the assistant conductor and assistant coach. The company gave 185 performances, which included a production of Lehár's The Merry Widow in which he performed alternately as either Camille or Danilo.

In 1959, Domingo auditioned for the Mexico National Opera as a baritone, but was then asked to sight-read some arias and lines in the tenor range. Finally he was accepted in the National Opera as a tenor comprimario and as a tutor for other singers. He provided backup vocals for Los Black Jeans in 1958, a rock-and-roll band led by César Costa. He studied piano and conducting, but made his stage debut acting in a minor role in 1959 (12 May) at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara as Pascual in Marina. It was followed by Borsa in Rigoletto (with Cornell MacNeil and Norman Treigle also in the cast), Padre Confessor (Dialogues of the Carmelites) and others.

He played piano for a ballet company to supplement his income as well as playing piano for a program on Mexico's newly founded cultural television station. The program consisted of excerpts from zarzuelas, operettas, operas, and musical comedies. He acted in a few small parts while at the theater in plays by Federico García Lorca, Luigi Pirandello, and Anton Chekhov.

1960s–1980s[link]

In 1961, Domingo made his operatic debut in a leading role as Alfredo in La Traviata at Monterrey (Maria Teresa Montoya theater) and, later in the same year, his debut in the United States with the Dallas Civic Opera, where he played the role of Arturo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor opposite Joan Sutherland in the title role.

In 1962, he returned to Texas to play the role of Edgardo in the same opera with Lily Pons at the Fort Worth Opera.^[5] At the end of 1962, he signed a six-month contract with the Israel National Opera in Tel Aviv, but later extended the contract and stayed for two and a half years, singing 280 performances of 12 different roles.

In June 1965, after finishing his contract with Israel National Opera, Domingo went for an audition at the New York City Opera and scheduled to make his New York debut as Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen, but his debut came earlier when he was asked to fill in for an ailing tenor at the last minute in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. On 17 June 1965, Domingo made his New York debut as B. F. Pinkerton at the New York City Opera. In February 1966, he sang the title role in the U.S. premiere of Ginastera's Don Rodrigo at the New York City Opera, with much acclaim. The performance also marked the opening of the City Opera's new home at Lincoln Center.

His official debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York occurred on 28 September 1968 when he substituted for Franco Corelli, in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur singing with Renata Tebaldi. Before Adriana Lecouvreur, he had sung in performances by the Metropolitan Opera at Lewisohn Stadium of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci in 1966. Since then, he has opened the season at the Metropolitan Opera 21 times,^[6] surpassing the previous record of Enrico Caruso by four. He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1967; at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1968; at both La Scala and San Francisco Opera in 1969; at the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company in 1970; and at Covent Garden in 1971. He has now sung at practically every other important opera house and festival worldwide. In 1971, he sang Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera, and continued to sing that part for many years, singing it, in fact, more than any other role.^[7]

Domingo has also conducted opera — as early as 7 October 1973, La traviata at the New York City Opera with Patricia Brooks — and occasionally symphony orchestras as well. In 1981 Domingo gained considerable recognition outside of the opera world when he recorded the song "Perhaps Love" as a duet with the late American country/folk music singer John Denver. In 1987, he and Denver joined Julie Andrews for an Emmy Award-winning holiday television special, The Sound of Christmas, filmed in Salzburg, Austria.

On 19 September 1985, the biggest earthquake in Mexico's history devastated part of the Mexican capital. Domingo's aunt, uncle, his nephew and his nephew's young son were killed in the collapse of the Nuevo León apartment block in the Tlatelolco housing complex. Domingo himself labored to rescue survivors. During the next year, he performed benefit concerts for the victims and released an album of one of the events.

1990s – present[link]

A statue in Mexico City as a recognition to his contributions to 1985 Mexico City earthquake victims and his artistic works

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s until today, Domingo has continued performing, singing many of the same roles, but adding new roles as well — among them the title roles in Wagner's Parsifal and Mozart's Idomeneo; Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia as Figaro; Wagner's Die Walküre as Siegmund; Lehár's The Merry Widow as Danilo; and Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac as Cyrano. From the middle 1990s to early in 2008 alone, he added 38 new roles to his repertoire, covering opera in six different languages (English, Italian, French, German, Russian and Spanish). The latest was the Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, Tamerlano.

Giving him even greater international recognition outside of the world of opera, Domingo participated in The Three Tenors concert at the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final in Rome with José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti. The event was originally conceived to raise money for the José Carreras International Leukemia Foundation and was later repeated a number of times, including at the three subsequent World Cup finals (1994 in Los Angeles, 1998 in Paris, and 2002 in Yokohama). Alone, Domingo again made an appearance at the final of the 2006 World Cup in Berlin, along with rising stars Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. On 24 August 2008, Domingo performed a duet with Song Zuying, singing Ài de Huǒyàn (The Flame of Love) at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing.^[8][9][10] The Beijing Olympics was the second Olympics at which he performed; he sang the Olympic Hymn at the closing ceremonies of the Barcelona Olympics.^[11] At the Olympic games that followed that, he would meet Sissel Kyrkjebø, who performed the Olympic Hymn at both the opening and closing ceremonies at those games.

In what has been called his 'final career move', Plácido Domingo announced on 25 January 2007 that in 2009, he would take on one of Verdi's most demanding baritone roles, singing the title role in Simon Boccanegra. The debut performance was at Berlin State Opera on October 24, followed by 29 other performances during 2009/2010 at major opera houses around the world.^[12] He would, however, continue to sing tenor roles beforehand and afterwards.

On 16–17 April 2008, he sang during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI at Nationals Park and at the Italian embassy in Washington D.C. Since 1990 Plácido Domingo has received many awards and honors for his achievement in the field of music and in recognition of his many benefit concerts and contributions to various charities.

On 15 March 2009, The Metropolitan Opera paid tribute to Domingo's 40th anniversary with the company with an on-stage gala dinner at the Met's 125th anniversary, commemorating his debut in Adriana Lecouvreur as Maurizio opposite Renata Tebaldi on 28 September 1968.^[13]

On 29 August 2009, he sang Panis Angelicus at the funeral mass of Senator Ted Kennedy in the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, Massachusetts.^[14]

On September 20, 2010, Domingo announced that he would renew his contract as General Director of the Los Angeles Opera through 2013.^[15] On September 27, 2010, Domingo announced that he will not renew his contract as General Director of the Washington National Opera beyond its June 2011 expiration date.^[16]

Ever a sympathetic colleague, in March 2011 he refused to sing in Buenos Aires until the city settled a bitter musicians strike at the Teatro Colón.^[17]

On Dec. 31, 2011, Domingo sang Neptune in the Metropolitan Opera's World Premiere performance of The Enchanted Island, a pastiche of Baroque opera with story and characters drawn from Shakespeare's The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream. A performance of this production has been telecast on PBS' Great Performances at the Met.

On 13 May 2012, Domingo performed during Real Madrid CF's season ending celebrations, the team having won their 32nd league title. Domingo is a fan of Los Merengues.

Family[link]

He was born to Plácido Francisco Domingo Ferrer (8 March 1907 – 22 November 1987) ^[18] and Pepita Embil Echaníz (28 February 1918 – 28 September 1994),^[19] two Spanish zarzuela stars who nurtured his early musical abilities. Domingo's father was half Catalan and half Aragonese, while his mother was a Basque. His father was a violinist performing for opera and zarzuela orchestra. He was a baritone and actively taking roles in zarzuela. However his promising career as a baritone ended after he damaged his voice by singing with a cold. Domingo's mother was an established singer who made her zarzuela debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. She met her husband at age 21 while performing in Federico Moreno Torroba's Sor Navarra. In 1946 Moreno Torroba and Domingo's parents formed a zarzuela company and travelled frequently to Mexico. His parents later stayed permanently in Mexico and established their own zarzuela troupe, the Domingo-Embil Company.^[20] In addition to their son, they also have a daughter, Maria José Domingo de Fernandez .

On 29 August 1957 at age 16, Plácido Domingo married a fellow piano student, Ana María Guerra Cué (1938–2006) and his first son, José Plácido Domingo Guerra (Pepe) was born on 16 June 1958.^[21] However, the marriage didn't last long, the couple separating shortly thereafter. On 1 August 1962, Plácido Domingo married Marta Ornelas, born 1935, a lyric soprano from Veracruz, Mexico, whom he met during his conservatory days.^[22] In the same year, Marta had been voted "Mexican Singer of the Year", but she gave up her promising career to devote her time to her family. They have two sons, Plácido Francisco (Plácido Jr.) born on 21 October 1965 and Alvaro Maurizio born on 11 October 1968.^[23] After a period of time living in Israel, Domingo and his family resided in Teaneck, New Jersey.^[24][25][26] During vacations, he usually spends his time with family in their vacation home in Acapulco, Mexico.^[27][28]

In March 2010 he underwent surgery for colon cancer.^[29]

Recordings[link]

Domingo has made well over 100 recordings, most of which are full-length operas, often recording the same role more than once. Among these recordings is a boxed set of every tenor aria Verdi ever wrote, including several rarely performed versions, in different languages from the original operas, which Verdi wrote for specific performances.

In August 2005, EMI Classics released a new studio recording of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in which Domingo sings the title role of Tristan. A review of this recording, headlined "Vocal perfections", that appeared in the 8 August 2005 issue of The Economist begins with the word "Monumental" and ends with the words, "a musical lyricism and a sexual passion that make the cost and the effort entirely worthwhile". It characterized his July 2005 performance of Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walküre at Covent Garden as "unforgettable" and "luminous". The review also remarks that Domingo is still taking on roles that he has not previously performed.

Recordings that were released in 2006 include studio recordings of Puccini's Edgar, Isaac Albéniz's Pepita Jiménez, as well as a selection of Italian and Neapolitan songs, titled Italia ti amo (all three with Deutsche Grammophon). Domingo appeared as the star act in the New Orleans Opera Association's A Night For New Orleans with Frederica von Stade and Elizabeth Futral, in March 2006. The concert was to raise funds for the rebuilding of the city. In September 2011, aged 70, he signed an exclusive record contract with Sony Classics.^[30]

Appearances on film and television[link]

Domingo at the 81st Academy Awards

See Domingo's opera recording in DVD/VHS format and audio CD format.

Domingo has appeared in numerous opera films, among them are Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's Madama Butterfly; Gianfranco de Bosio's Tosca with Raina Kabaivanska; Giuseppe Patroni Griffi's Tosca with Catherine Malfitano (Emmy Award);^[31] Franco Zeffirelli's Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci — all made for television — and, for theatrical release, Francesco Rosi's Carmen (Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording); Zeffirelli's Otello with Katia Ricciarelli; and Zeffirelli's La traviata (with Teresa Stratas, which received a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording).

His singing voice was heard performing the song "In Pace", during the closing credits of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996).

He has also appeared on television in the 1978 La Scala production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut which marked the Scala debut of Hungarian soprano Sylvia Sass, as well in zarzuela evenings, and Live at the Met telecasts and broadcasts. In 2007, Domingo had a cameo role in The Simpsons episode "Homer of Seville", which revolves around Homer Simpson becoming an opera singer. In his cameo, Domingo sang briefly. Domingo appeared on The Cosby Show Season 5 as Alberto Santiago, a colleague of Dr. Cliff Huxtable.

In 1989, the international television series 'Return Journey' featured Domingo returning to his home city of Madrid reflecting life there whilst recording an album of Zarzuela arias for EMI. The film was directed by Ken MacGregor.

Domingo is the executive producer of the critically acclaimed 1998 Mexican film The Other Conquest, produced by his son Alvaro and directed by Salvador Carrasco, in which Domingo also performs the original aria "Mater Aeterna", composed by Samuel Zyman with lyrics by Carrasco.

In 2008, Domingo provided the voice of the long-haired Chihuahua named Montezuma in Disney's Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

[edit] Christmas in Vienna

In 1990, the idea for a Christmas-themed concert, involving the collaboration of Domingo, fellow operatic tenor and friend José Carreras, and pop music legend Diana Ross was first brought up. Vienna was chosen in 1992 to host the event due to its reputation as a capital of music and the particular charm of Austria during Christmas time. The Wiener Symphoniker under the direction of maestro Vjekoslav Šutej provided the orchestral music, and the Gumpoldskirchen Children's Choir provided choral vocals. On 23 December 1992, the first in what would turn out to be a series of Christmas in Vienna concerts was seen worldwide by several hundred million people. Plácido Domingo returned to Vienna for many more Christmas in Vienna concerts, performing with stars and friends of both pop and classical music, including Dionne Warwick, Charles Aznavour, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Michael Bolton, Sarah Brightman, Natalie Cole, Riccardo Cocciante, Patricia Kaas, Luciano Pavarotti, Tony Bennett and others.

Complete repertoire[link]

Perhaps the most versatile of all living tenors, Domingo has sung 128 opera roles and as many as 131 roles overall in Italian, French, German, English, Spanish and Russian.^[32] His main repertoire however is Italian (Otello; Cavaradossi in Tosca; Don Carlo; Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut; Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West; Radames in Aida); French (Faust; Werther; Don José in Carmen; Samson in Samson et Dalila); and German (Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Siegmund in Die Walküre). He continues to add more roles to his repertoire, the latest was the title baritone role in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra on 24 October 2009 at Berlin State Opera. Additionally, Domingo has created several new roles in modern operas, such as the title role in Tan Dun's opera The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera. In September 2010, he created the role of the poet Pablo Neruda in the world première of Daniel Catán's opera based on the film Il Postino at Los Angeles Opera.^[33] During the 2011-2012 season at the Met he has created the role of Neptune in the original baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island conducted by William Christie with a libretto by Jeremy Sams.

Awards and honors[link]

Plácido Domingo won his first Grammy Award in 1971 and went on to win eight more, as well as three Latin Grammy awards. A Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera and the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates, he has received other major awards that include an Honorary Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom; Austria's Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst; France's Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur; Mexico's Orden del Águila Azteca; Spain's Premio Príncipe de Asturias; the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom; and most recently a Medal of Honour from Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman.^[34] In 2012, Domingo was voted into Gramophone's first Hall of Fame.^[35]

Writings[link]