by Irin Carmon
Many archivists and institutions helped us along the way, including Rebecca Beyer at Columbia Law School, Janet Donohue of Rutgers School of Law–Newark, Eisha Neely at Cornell University, Lesley Schoenfeld at Harvard Law School, Deborah Howlett at the ACLU of New Jersey, Lorraine Izzo at James Madison High School, and Lisa Miller at the Brearley School. We thank Lenora Lapidus and Erin White at the ACLU, Kathryn Mahaney and Judith S. Weis at Rutgers, and author John B. Railey, for additional research support. Thanks to William Blake and Hans Hacker, for sharing their research on oral dissents with us. At the Library of Congress manuscript division, Lewis Wyman and Jeffrey M. Flannery led the way. Brian Reynolds and Lacey Chemsak at Sony Music, along with the estate of Notorious B.I.G., came through for us. Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Frank William Miller Jr. made very important introductions.
Shout out to the community at #notoriousrbg on every platform, for being so goddamn amazing.
FROM IRIN
* * *
My agent, Linda Loewenthal of David Black Agency, has been my fierce advocate from the start. Anna Holmes and Rebecca Traister, my brilliant friends, mentors, and beloved feminist interlocutors, each in her own way made this book (and so much of my career) possible. Rachel Dry, always generous and insightful, was even more so in reading the manuscript.
At MSNBC, Beth Fouhy, Dafna Linzer, Richard Wolffe, Yvette Miley, and Phil Griffin have afforded me the privilege of reporting on women’s rights on every platform, as well as the warm support to work on this book. Thanks also to Rachel Maddow, who championed my RBG interview, and to Sylvie Haller, who made it a reality. The folks at Yale Law School, in particular Priscilla Smith, Reva Siegel, and Jack Balkin, have welcomed me and taught me, as did Margot Kaminski. On both a personal and professional level, I have learned so much from the astute chroniclers of the Supreme Court, including Linda Greenhouse, Jeffrey Toobin, Dahlia Lithwick, Lyle Denniston, Joan Biskupic, Pete Williams, and Art Lien. Sandra Bark and Elizabeth Green offered both friendship and hard-learned lessons from their experiences. I gratefully count Mollie Chen, Kristin Garcia, Steph Herold, Amelia Lester, Kaija-Leena Romero, Stella Safo, Adam Serwer, Aminatou Sow, Sarah Tucker, and Beth Wikler, among others, as both friends and teachers.
Yes, this is a selfie Irin Carmon
The Carmonsters—Ittai, Ella, Daria, Yahel, and Deni—are everything to me. I have been so blessed to have Haggai and Rakeffet Carmon as parents and unstinting supporters. RBG herself said it’s important to have a “supportive man,” but I was privileged to have much more than support. Thank you to Ari Richter, for seeing me through this with kindness, joy, and love.
FROM SHANA
* * *
I am grateful to my agent, Lindsay Edgecombe, as well as to Daniel Greenberg of Levine/Greenberg/Rostan Literary Agency, who guided me through a process that was entirely foreign at the outset and advocated on my behalf at every level. I am indebted to Ankur Mandhania for his notorious Facebook post, which sparked the fuse that became this phenomenon, as well as to my friend and colleague Frank Chi, whose words of advice and generous spare bedroom were essential on my many trips to Washington, D.C.
During my third year of law school, professor and vice dean Randy Hertz at NYU Law and Attorney Judith Harris at the Legal Aid Society’s Bronx Juvenile Rights Practice were invaluable mentors and supporters of all of my endeavors both legal and otherwise, including this one, and were my biggest cheerleaders at all times.
At NYU, I appreciate Deirdre von Dornum, Norman Dorsen, Sylvia Law, Arthur Miller, Trevor Morrison, and Burt Neuborne, for their willingness to be a part of this project. I am also grateful to my fellow members of the Juvenile Defender Clinic, Law Review, Law Revue, CoLR, OUTLaw, Substantial Performance, and Defender Collective, for providing guidance, perspective, and welcome distraction at various stages.
I want to thank my longtime mentor and friend, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, who has been instrumental in helping me become the lawyer, and person, I am today, as well as my students and fellow coaches at Columbia Mock Trial, for always making my uptown treks worth the while.
To all of my friends in Philadelphia and New York: You’ve kept me sane through this process and I feel so lucky to have you as a constant in my life.
The support of my parents, Luda and Yuri Knizhnik, and of my brother, Ed Knizhnik, has been a driving force throughout my life—I quite literally could not have done this without them. Finally, thank you to Hillela Simpson for enduring my sleepless nights, for taking care of me in spite of myself, and for lovingly seeing me through this from start to finish.
In chambers Shana Knizhnik
Notes
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your e-book reader’s search tools.
Chapter 1: Notorious
1That’s her dissent collar Fact-checking by Irin Carmon with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in Boston, MA, May 29, 2015.
2without missing a day Id.
about land and Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist., 133 S. Ct. 2586 (2013).
custody case involving Indian law Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 133 S. Ct. 2552 (2013).
3The case was Shelby County v. Holder 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013).
“But our country has changed” Opinion Announcement Part 1 at 7:25, Shelby Cnty. v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013) (all opinion announcements available at oyez.org).
murdered civil rights activists See Shelby Cnty. v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612, 2626 (2013).
High black voter turnout See id.
There were black mayors See id.
in an affirmative action case Fisher v. Univ. of Tex., 133 S. Ct. 2411 (2013).
workplace discrimination cases Vance v. Ball State Univ., 133 S. Ct. 2434 (2013); Univ. of Tex. Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 133 S. Ct. 2517 (2013).
3“the court’s disregard” Opinion Announcement Part 2 at 4:19, Univ. of Tex. Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 133 S. Ct. 2517 (2013).
Alito, who had written the majority opinion “Dana Milbank, Alito Is On a Roll: An Eye Roll,” WASHINGTON POST, June 25, 2013.
Sandra Day O’Connor, sat in the section Mark Walsh, A “View” from the Court: June 25, 2013, SCOTUSBLOG (June 25, 2013).
“Justice Ginsburg has filed” Opinion Announcement Part 1 at 8:15, Shelby Cnty. v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013).
4“Hubris is a fit word” Shelby Cnty. v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612, 2648 (2013) (Ginsburg, J., dissenting).
“throwing away your umbrella” Id. at 2650.
“what was once the subject” Opinion Announcement Part 2 at 1:22, Shelby Cnty. v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013).
5getting angry was a waste E.g., Jeffrey Rosen, The New Look of Liberalism on the Court, NEW YORK TIMES, Oct. 5, 1997 [hereinafter Rosen, The New Look of Liberalism].
sometimes it helped to be a little deaf E.g., Association of American Law Schools, Engendering Equality: A Conversation with Justice Ginsburg, YOUTUBE.COM (Feb. 20, 2015) [hereinafter AALS, Engendering Equality].
5broke a half-century-long record Richard Wolf, Ginsburg’s Dedication Undimmed After 20 Years on Court, USA TODAY, Aug. 1, 2013.
“if there is a steadfast commitment” Opinion Announcement Part 2 at 9:59, Shelby Cnty. v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013).
6“Can’t spell truth without Ruth.” Interview by Shana Knizhnik with Aminatou Sow; interview by Irin Carmon with Frank Chi.
7“schoolmarmish” Alan Dershowitz, And the Winner Is . . ., WASHINGTON TIMES, June 16, 1993; David Von Drehle, Conventional Roles: Hid a Revolutionary Intellect, WASHINGTON POST, Jul. 18, 1993 [hereinafter Von Drehle, Conventional Roles].
the wrong kind of feminist See Jeffrey Rosen, The Book of Ruth, NEW REPUBLIC, Aug. 2, 1993.
“a dinosaur” Margaret Carlson, The Law According to Ruth, TIME, June 24, 2001.
insufficiently radical Interview by Shana Knizhnik with Burt Neuborne.
a dull writer Transcript of NOW with Bill Moyers (PBS television
broadcast, May 3, 2002).
by comedian Amy Schumer Jennifer Konerman, Amy Schumer’s Marketing Ploy for Season 3, BRIEF: A PROMAXBDA PUBLICATION (Mar. 31, 2015).
the show Scandal It’s Good to Be Kink, SCANDAL (ABC television broadcast, Mar. 19, 2015).
on The Good Wife The Deconstruction, THE GOOD WIFE (CBS television broadcast, Apr. 26, 2015).
recurring Saturday Night Live character Dakota Johnson/Alabama Shakes, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC television broadcast, Feb. 28, 2015); Scarlett Johansson/Wiz Khalifa, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC television broadcast, May 2, 2015).
8“no-nonsense people are rewarded” Interview by Shana Knizhnik with Aminatou Sow.
“It’s hard for me to think of someone” Interview by Irin Carmon with David Schizer.
9“I would not have thought of her as hip” Interview by Irin Carmon with James Ginsburg.
“a crucial expansion of the American imagination” Rebecca Traister, How Ruth Bader Ginsburg Became the Most Popular Woman on the Internet, NEW REPUBLIC, Jul. 10, 2014.
“Women lose power with age” Interview by Irin Carmon with Gloria Steinem.
“her willingness to be a public figure” Interview by Shana Knizhnik with Burt Neuborne.
“But what really changed” Jeffrey Rosen, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is an American Hero, NEW REPUBLIC, Sept. 28, 2014.
11“She’s not just deliberative” Rosen, The New Look of Liberalism.
“Ruth is almost pure work” Pam Lambert, Determined Judge, CORNELL ALUMNI NEWS, November 1980, at 67.
two of her old ACLU colleagues Von Drehle, Conventional Roles.
12“a flaming radical” Interview by Shana Knizhnik with Cynthia Fuchs Epstein.
“She subordinated her own persona” Interview by Shana Knizhnik with Burt Neuborne.
“It would not include me” Conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Theodore “Ted” B. Olson, C-SPAN (Dec. 17, 2013).
13RBG felt a little faint E.g., Jess Bravin, Justice Ginsburg Undergoes Heart Procedure to Treat Coronary Blockage, WALL STREET JOURNAL, Nov. 27, 2014.
“I would be glad to greet the clever creators” Letter from Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Shana Knizhnik, Aminatou Sow, and Frank Chi (Oct. 8, 2014) (on file with author).
Chapter 2: Been in This Game for Years
15justices bunk together Ruth Bader Ginsburg, The Supreme Court: A Place for Women, VITAL SPEECHES OF THE DAY, May 1, 2001, at 420–24.
“Was invited to sit in the Chief Justice’s seat” Letter from Sarah Grimké to Sarah Wattles (Dec. 23, 1853) (Weld-Grimké Papers, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan).
15Myra Bradwell Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S. 130 (1873).
“The method of communication” Brief for the Petitioner, Struck v. Sec’y of Def., 409 U.S. 1071 (1972) (No. 72-178), 1972 WL 135840, at 39.
Mills v. United States 164 U.S. 644 (1897).
16“When you say you have ‘no available graduates’” David L. Weiden and Artemus Ward, Sorcerers’ Apprentices: 100 Years of Law Clerks at the United States Supreme Court 88 (2006).
17Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
“The study of law was unusual” Sandra Pullman, Tribute: The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and WRP Staff, ACLU (Feb. 19, 2006).
“it was only fair to pay me modestly” Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Remarks on Women’s Progress in the Legal Profession in the United States, 33 TULSA LAW REVIEW 13, 15 (1997).
18“tricky question of Swedish civil procedure” Adam Liptak, Kagan Says Path to Supreme Court Was Made Smoother Because of Ginsburg’s, NEW YORK TIMES, Feb. 10, 2014.
19“The Department of Justice, I am sure” Oral Argument at 75:51, Phillips v. Martin-Marietta Corp., 400 U.S. 542 (1971).
Reed v. Reed Brief for Appellant, Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971) (No. 70-4), 1971 WL 133596.
Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
Doe v. Bolton 410 U.S. 179 (1973).
“This right of privacy” Roe, 410 U.S. at 153.
first-ever casebook Kenneth M. Davidson, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Herma Hill Kay, Sex-Based Discrimination: Text, Cases and Materials (1974).
20Bush v. Gore 531 U.S. 98 (2000).
“The wisdom of the court’s decision” David G. Savage, Ginsburg Rebukes Justices for Intervening in Fla. Vote, LOS ANGELES TIMES, Feb. 3, 2001.
21“the lone woman” Darragh Johnson, Sandra Day O’Connor, Well Judged Women’s Group Honors Pioneering High Court Justice, WASHINGTON POST, Mar. 7, 2006.
21Gonzales v. Carhart 550 U.S. 124 (2007).
“pretends that its decision protects women” Opinion Announcement at 7:27, Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007).
Lilly Ledbetter Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007).
“I hear that Justice Ginsburg has been working” Jeffrey Toobin, The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court 118 (2012).
“I wanted people to see” Joan Biskupic, Ginsburg Back with Grit, Grace, USA TODAY, Mar. 6, 2009.
“I like the idea that we’re all over the bench” Joan Biskupic, Justice Ginsburg Reflects on Term, Leadership Role, USA TODAY, June 30, 2011.
22“skim milk marriage” Oral Argument at 70:51, United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013).
“the blessings and the strife” Robert Barnes, Ginsburg to Officiate Same-Sex Wedding, WASHINGTON POST, Aug. 30, 2013.
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby 134 S. Ct. 2751 (2014).
not “100 percent sober” Ariane de Vogue, Ginsburg and Scalia on Parasailing, Elephants and Not Being “100% Sober,” CNN (Feb. 13, 2015).
23“The court, I fear, has ventured” 134 S. Ct. 2805 (Ginsburg, J., dissenting).
Chapter 3: I Got a Story to Tell
25“I feel like a very lucky girl” Bruce Weber, Latest Chapter in a Photographer’s Worldwide Project, NEW YORK TIMES, Sept. 19, 1996.
“my son the doctor, the lawyer” Von Drehle, Conventional Roles.
“She ran with a group of girls” Interview by Irin Carmon with Hesh Kaplan.
Camp Che-Na-Wah David Von Drehle, Redefining Fair with a Simple Careful Assault: Step-by-Step Strategy Produced Strides for Equal Protection, WASHINGTON POST, Jul. 19, 1993 [hereinafter Von Drehle, Redefining Fair].
26“This was a girl who was an adventurer” Ruth Bader Ginsburg Interview, ACAD. OF ACHIEVEMENT: A MUSEUM OF LIVING HISTORY (Aug. 17, 2010) [hereinafter ACAD. OF ACHIEVEMENT].
26“I learned to love the smell” AALS, Engendering Equality.
Judy Coplon Interview by Irin Carmon with Hesh Kaplan.
the smell of death Von Drehle, Conventional Roles.
Kiki’s friends gathered Fact-checking by Irin Carmon with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in Boston, MA (May 29, 2015).
27Celia Amster Fred Strebeigh, Equal: Women Reshape American Law 11 (2009).
On the day before the ceremony Id.
28the minyan Abigail Pogrebin, Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish 19–20 (2007).
“That meant always conduct yourself” Larry Josephson, A Conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Her Life as a Woman, a Jew and a Judge, ONLY IN AMERICA (Sept. 2, 2004) [hereinafter ONLY IN AMERICA].
Celia had quietly scraped together Strebeigh, Equal, at 12; Von Drehle, Conventional Roles; ONLY IN AMERICA.
“It was one of the most trying times” Supreme Court Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Scalia, and O’Connor, C-SPAN (Oct. 8, 2009) [hereinafter C-SPAN, Supreme Court Justices].
mental map of every women’s bathroom AALS, Engendering Equality.
29“The women were a heck of a lot smarter” Scott Rosenthal, Students in D.C. Meet Justice Ginsburg ‘54, CORNELL DAILY SUN, Apr. 16, 2007.
“You could drop a bomb” Interview by Shana Knizhnik with Anita Fial.
10 P.M. curfew Von Drehle, Conventional Roles.
boys were allowed ACAD. OF ACHIEVEMENT.
30Kiki tried, and then dropped ONLY IN AMERICA.
Vladimir Nabokov Ruth Bader Ginsburg: From
Brooklyn to the Bench, CORNELL UNIVERSITY (Sept. 22, 2014) [hereinafter CORNELL, From Brooklyn to the Bench].
30professor Robert E. Cushman Id.
“a war against racism” Id.
Marcus Singer Cornell Relieves Marcus Singer of Teaching Duties, HARVARD CRIMSON, Nov. 24, 1954; Von Drehle, Conventional Roles.
“I got the idea that being a lawyer” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Remarks at Georgetown University Law Center, C-SPAN (Feb. 4, 2015) [hereinafter Georgetown Remarks].
the first boy she ever met CORNELL, From Brooklyn to the Bench.
31Marty’s gray Chevy Beth Saulnier, Justice Prevails: A Conversation with Ruth Bader Ginsburg ‘54, CORNELL ALUMNI MAGAZINE, Nov./Dec. 2013 [hereinafter Saulnier, Justice Prevails].
“There was a long, cold week” Georgetown Remarks.
“I have no doubt that in our case” Jay Mathews, The Spouse of Ruth: Marty Ginsburg, the Pre-Feminism Feminist, WASHINGTON POST, June 19, 1993 [hereinafter Mathews, The Spouse of Ruth].
“Ruth was a wonderful student” Claudia MacLachlan, Mr. Ginsburg’s Campaign for Nominee, NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL, June 27, 1993, at 33.
His father, Morris Interview by Irin Carmon with Jane Ginsburg.
failed her driving test five times Fact-checking by Irin Carmon with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in Boston, MA (May 29, 2015).
“to be in the same discipline” Mathews, The Spouse of Ruth.
Marty had dropped AALS, Engendering Equality.
“Ruth always intended” Mathews, The Spouse of Ruth.
32married in the Ginsburgs’ living room Ruth Bader Ginsburg, The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, in THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME 116 (Marlo Thomas, ed. 2004) [hereinafter THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME].
eighteen people present Id.
“I’m going to tell you the secret” AALS, Engendering Equality.
“My mother-in-law meant” THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME.
32Fort Sill base AALS, Engendering Equality.