US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies at 87

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the senior liberal voice on the high court and a lifelong advocate of women’s equality, has died. She was 87.

The court said she died of metastatic pancreatic cancer Friday evening at her home in Washington, D.C., where she was surrounded by her family. Ginsburg had announced over the summer that she had been undergoing chemotherapy treatment, but she said that she would “remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam. I remain fully able to do that.”

According to NPR, just days before her death, Ginsburg dictated a statement to her granddaughter that read in part, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

Chief Justice John Roberts said: “Our nation has lost a justice 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.”

Ginsburg long had been a champion for equal rights, dating to the days when she graduated at the top of her law school class but then couldn’t find work at a law firm because the places she applied would hire a woman for the job. She was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1993, the first of President Bill Clinton’s two nominees. The confirmation vote was a staggering 96-3. Among the causes she championed from the bench were health care for low- and middle-income families, marriage rights and discrimination against LGBTQ Americans in the workplace.

“Justice Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me,” Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter. “There will never be another like her. Thank you RBG.”

In recent years, Ginsburg, the second woman on the court after Sandra Day O’Connor, had obtained an iconic stature, the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary, RBG, and a feature film last year. She cooperated in the making of both. She also obtained an iconic nickname, “Notorious RBG,” which reflected her status as a career-long champion of women’s equality.

Her death likely will set up another confirmation battle on the eve of an election or during the lame-duck session later in the year.

Ginsburg was the senior liberal justice on the court and, if President Donald Trump is able to fill the vacancy, it would solidify the court’s 6-3 conservative majority. Trump already has named two justices to the court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Tributes from friends, colleagues, fans and Hollywood figures have been flooding social media since the news of her death broke.

Both President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden have commented on the justice’s death. The news broke as Trump was addressing a rally in Bemidji, MN. He found out when reporters asked him for a reaction, to which the president said, “She just died? Wow. I didn’t know that. She led an amazing life.”

Biden also reflected shortly after the news broke telling reporters that Ginsburg, “stood for all of us” as she pursued “the highest American ideas of equality and justice under the law.”

Presidential historian John Meacham said on MSNBC Friday night, “The country, I think, should rightly pause and mourn this remarkably pioneering life, which was given to a realization that what Thomas Jefferson wrote in a different era could mean real change and real possibility from era to era to era.”

The Motion Picture Association CEO Charles Rivkin tweeted and issued a statement saying, “Ruth Bader Ginsburg exemplified the best in America.” He called her, “a champion for equality, a fierce defender of free speech, and a passionate supporter of the arts” and a “towering figure in the world of copyright.”

“Most notably,” wrote Rivkin, “Justice Ginsburg proved the power of the dissenting voice. It has and will continue to inspire countless storytellers. And, while her life has been celebrated on screen in films like RBG and On the Basis of Sex, her true legacy is inspiring all creators to tell their own stories.”

Joe Biden called Ruth Bader Ginsburg "not only a giant in the legal profession, but a beloved figure."

He said, "She practiced the highest American ideals as a justice — equality and justice under the law. Ruth Bader Ginsburg stood for all of us." https://t.co/7rXtpkRRTi pic.twitter.com/2YtyauY4LM

— CNN (@CNN) September 19, 2020

President @realDonaldTrump on the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "She led an amazing life…She was an amazing woman, whether you agreed or not…I am sad to hear that."#RIPRBG pic.twitter.com/VTqNfohK8X

— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) September 19, 2020

Justice Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me. There will never be another like her. Thank you RBG.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 19, 2020

Surely the smartest and toughest person I'll ever have the privilege to know. Rest in Peace, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. pic.twitter.com/TV7DpPQCk0

— Julie Cohen (@FilmmakerJulie) September 19, 2020

Her rest is earned. It is our turn to fight.

— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) September 19, 2020

"Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." RIP, RBG pic.twitter.com/HLtKG7qdnp

— Robert Downey Jr (@RobertDowneyJr) September 19, 2020

Ruth Bader Ginsburg embodied justice, brilliance and goodness. Her passing is an incalculable loss for our democracy and for all who sacrifice and strive to build a better future for our children. pic.twitter.com/BufY4jXPR8

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) September 19, 2020

If there is a God, may She bless and keep RBG.

— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) September 18, 2020

Thank you, RBG for devoting your life, love and legacy to the rule of law. What a trailblazer in every way. What an immeasurable loss in every way. We will honor you by voting to protect all that you stood for. #rbg #heartbroken

— Mandy Moore (@TheMandyMoore) September 19, 2020

Rest In Peace justice Ginsberg. You were a champion and a hero. Thank you for your tireless work https://t.co/5v32VgODTg

— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) September 18, 2020

She was my hero. I never got to meet her.

But I loved her and the way she moved through this world with such strength and grace and conviction.

Rest In Peace, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. #RIPRBG

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) September 19, 2020

Today couldn’t be sadder. A brilliant Jurist, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is gone. We must fight not to allow an Impeached Criminal to take her seat.

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) September 18, 2020