Letter from Ruth Bader Ginsburg Supporting the Equal Rights Amendment
4/15/1971
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As a law professor at Rutgers University, Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote to Representative Don Edwards in support of an equal rights amendment. She argued that the Women's Equality Act of 1971 should not be substituted for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Ginsburg had been one of only nine women in her Harvard Law School class of over 500, and was the first woman to serve on both the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review. In 1972, she founded the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and was the group's chief litigator. She would argue six cases before the Supreme Court, all dealing in some way with gender discrimination.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg as a judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she served for 13 years. In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court. She was confirmed by a 96-3 vote in the Senate, and was sworn in as Associate Supreme Court Justice on August 10, 1993.
Ginsburg had been one of only nine women in her Harvard Law School class of over 500, and was the first woman to serve on both the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review. In 1972, she founded the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and was the group's chief litigator. She would argue six cases before the Supreme Court, all dealing in some way with gender discrimination.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg as a judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she served for 13 years. In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court. She was confirmed by a 96-3 vote in the Senate, and was sworn in as Associate Supreme Court Justice on August 10, 1993.
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives.
National Archives Identifier: 26283960
Full Citation: Letter from Law Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Support of the Equal Rights Amendment; 4/15/1971; Legislative Files of the Committee on the Judiciary for the 92nd Congress; Committee Papers, 1813 - 2011; Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, Record Group 233; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/rbg-equal-rights-amendment, October 13, 2024]Activities that use this document
- Analyzing a Letter from Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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