Bill Text: NJ SR90 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Honors life and legacy of United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-09-24 - Filed with Secretary of State [SR90 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-SR90-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Honors life and legacy of United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution honoring the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Whereas, After 27 years of distinguished service on the United States Supreme Court, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020, at the age of 87; and
Whereas, Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court in 1993, Justice Ginsburg had a respected legal career: she attended Harvard Law School and graduated from Columbia Law School; served as a law clerk to a Judge of the United States District Court; served as a law school professor at Rutgers University Law School from 1963 to 1972, and at Columbia Law School from 1972 to 1980; and was appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980; and
Whereas, As a young attorney, Justice Ginsburg was instrumental in the struggle for women's rights, launching the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union and, from 1973 to 1976, winning five out of the six women's rights cases that she argued before the Court; and
Whereas, Justice Ginsburg's successful advocacy for gender equality significantly changed the law as it affects women, including the landmark decision of Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971), the first case to hold that discrimination on the basis of sex violated the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and
Whereas, After her appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg became a leader of the Court's liberal wing, writing majority opinions in United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996), holding that the Virginia Military Institute's male-only policy violated the Equal Protection Clause, and in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), holding that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act required states to place persons with mental disabilities in community settings rather than institutions when feasible; and concurring in Safford Unified School District v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364 (2009), which held that the strip search of a middle-school student violated the student's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures; and
Whereas, Justice Ginsburg was known for her powerful dissenting opinions as well. in Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000), where the majority of Justices halted the Florida recount of votes in the 2000 election, thus effectively deciding the election for George W. Bush, Justice Ginsburg wrote that the "conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court's own judgment will not allow to be tested. Such an untested prophecy should not decide the Presidency of the United States." In Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007), a 5-4 decision rejecting Lily Ledbetter's discrimination claim on grounds that she had missed the statutory 180-day deadline, Justice Ginsberg wrote that "[t]he court does not comprehend or is indifferent to the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination," and called on Congress to rewrite the statute to modify the limitations period; Congress did so in 2009 with the enactment of the "Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act," Pub. L. 111-2, 123 Stat. 5, which provides that each paycheck that contains discriminatory compensation is a separate violation regardless of when the discrimination began; and
Whereas, Each of the current and retired members of the Supreme Court issued statements expressing their personal sorrow at Justice Ginsburg's death and their appreciation for her service. Retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy stated: "By her learning she taught devotion to the law. By her dignity she taught respect for others and her love for America. By her reverence for the Constitution, she taught us to preserve it to secure our freedom,"; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House honors the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to every member of the United States Senate and each member of the United States House of Representatives elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This resolution honors the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
After 27 years of distinguished service on the United States Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020, at the age of 87. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court in 1993, Justice Ginsburg had a respected legal career: she attended Harvard Law School and graduated from Columbia Law School; served as a law clerk to a Judge of the United States District Court; served as a law school professor at Rutgers University Law School from 1963 to 1972, and at Columbia Law School from 1972 to 1980; and was appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980.
As a young attorney, Justice Ginsburg was instrumental in the struggle for women's rights, launching the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union and, from 1973 to 1976, winning five out of the six women's rights cases that she argued before the Court. Justice Ginsburg's successful advocacy for gender equality significantly changed the law as it affects women, including the landmark decision of Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971), the first case to hold that discrimination on the basis of sex violated the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
After her appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg became a leader of the Court's liberal wing, writing majority opinions in United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996), holding that the Virginia Military Institute's male-only policy violated the Equal Protection Clause, and in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), holding that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act required states to place persons with mental disabilities in community settings rather than institutions when feasible; and concurring in Safford Unified School District v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364 (2009) that the strip search of a middle-school student violated the student's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Justice Ginsburg was known for her powerful dissenting opinions as well: in Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000), where the majority of Justices halted the Florida recount of votes in the 2000 election, thus effectively deciding the election for George W. Bush, Justice Ginsburg wrote that the "conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court's own judgment will not allow to be tested. Such an untested prophecy should not decide the Presidency of the United States." In Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007), a 5-4 decision rejecting Lily Ledbetter's discrimination claim on grounds that she had missed the statutory 180-day deadline, Justice Ginsberg wrote that "[t]he court does not comprehend or is indifferent to the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination," and called on Congress to rewrite the statute to modify the limitations period; Congress did so in 2009 with the enactment of the "Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act," Pub. L. 111-2, 123 Stat. 5, which provides that each paycheck that contains discriminatory compensation is a separate violation regardless of when the discrimination began.
Each of the current and retired members of the Supreme Court issued statements expressing their personal sorrow at Justice Ginsburg's death and their appreciation for her service. Retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy stated: "By her learning she taught devotion to the law. By her dignity she taught respect for others and her love for America. By her reverence for the Constitution, she taught us to preserve it to secure our freedom."
