RBG Film Night

RBG is a documentary, and On The Basis Of Sex is a biopic feature. Both films explore the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg; however, the approach varies. RBG aims to tell the story of Ginsburg’s entire career, while On The Basis of Sex focuses on a single important case. The filmmakers view them as sister productions, and examined the same footage, notes, and briefs, as they made each film.

After Ginsburg’s dissent in Shelby County v. Holder, denying the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to discriminate against poor and minority voters, the Tumblr account was created and dedicated to showcasing her achievements in a light-hearted way.

She is often referred to as “the smartest person on the East Coast.”

Ginsburg faced great discrimination throughout her life, including the inability to find a job upon graduation, despite being first in her class. When she became the second-ever female law professor at Rutgers University, she was informed that she would be paid less than her male peers, and was told “You have a husband who earns a good salary.” She has also said, “You felt, in class, as if all eyes were on you and that if you didn’t perform well, you would be failing, not only for yourself, but for all women.”

Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman US Supreme Court Judge. She was followed by Ginsburg, and has since been recently joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Before Sotomayor and Kagan, Ginsburg was the only female justice of the current group.

About feminism, she has said “I think the simplest explanation and one that captures the idea is a song that Marlo Thomas sang “Free to Be You and Me.” We should each be free to develop our own talents, whatever they may be, and not be held back by artificial barriers, man-made barriers, certainly not heaven sent.”

She has said, “Our strategy was the soul of simplicity. It was to go after the stereotypes that were written into law and to show that many could be disadvantaged by the stereotype. We wanted people to be judged by what they do, by the functions they perform, and not by gender.”

She has said, “I read every federal case that had to do with women’s equality or the lack thereof and every law review article. Now that seems like it was quite an undertaking but in fact, it was easily manageable because there was so little.”

This website provides information on RBG’s life, opinions, dissents and arguments before the Supreme Court. Last updated January, 2019.

On the Affordable Healthcare Act 

A concurring (but different) opinion in NFIB v. Sebelius -the Affordable Care Act case, that reached the Supreme Court in 2012.  

“The provision of health care is today a concern of national dimension, just as the provision of old-age and survivors’ benefits was in the 1930’s. . . .   Beyond question, Congress could have adopted a similar scheme [to Social Security] for health care. Congress chose, instead, to preserve a central role for private insurers and state governments.  According to The Chief Justice, the Commerce Clause does not permit that preservation.  This rigid reading of the Clause makes scant sense and is stunningly retrogressive.  Since 1937, our precedent has recognized Congress’ large authority to set the Nation’s course in the economic and social welfare realm.  See United States v. Darby, 312 U. S. 100, 115 (1941) (. . .  recognizing that “regulations of commerce which do not infringe some constitutional prohibition are within the plenary power conferred on Congress by the Commerce Clause”). . . .   The Chief Justice’s crabbed reading of the Commerce Clause harks back to the era in which the Court routinely thwarted Congress’ efforts to regulate the national economy in the interest of those who labor to sustain it.”

On voting rights: 

Sheppard, Kate. “The Best Lines from Ginsburg’s Dissent on the Voting Rights Act Decision.” Mother Jones. June 25. 2013.

This was the infamous Supreme Court decision that struck down the part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that determined which cities, counties, and states need to seek approval from the Department of Justice before changing their voting laws. Her full dissent is here, beginning on page 49. 

A dissenting opinion in Veasey v. Perry, a 2014 case challenging a Texas voter ID law which the Court upheld 6-3:

“The greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, one that likely imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters.”

Podcast “On Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Stamp on the ACLU”  January 24, 2019 talks about her role in the ACLU and the impact of  the ACLU Women’s Rights Project  which she founded in 1972. 

Greenhouse, Linda.  “Why R.B.G. Matters: A new decision on women and the draft underscores her consequential role in shaping the law on sex equality”. New York Times. February 28, 2019 

 “Quick Take: Women in Law” . Catalyst. October 2, 2018. 

The ERA is a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

RBG on the ERA: needed to inscribe “equal rights for men and women as a fundamental tenet of our society.”

Resources:

The Democrats Abroad Global Women’s Caucus provides information here.  

“One of Democrats Abroad’s key issues is to secure the rights of women through the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. DA unanimously passed a resolution in May 2018 to support ERA. We need one more state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment for it to become part of the U.S. Constitution.” 

And has initiated a number of DA campaigns in support of the ERA. 

Other resources:
Equal Rights Amendment:  A website that provides a wide range of resources on the history, ratification process and issues, and FAQ. 

Equal Means Equal   An organization and website that provides information and resources, including a documentary,  about women’s unequal status in the USA today.  Campaigns for the ratification of the ERA.