My Own Words

In her discussion of brave Jewish women, Ginsburg quotes a portion of The Diary of Anne Frank (86-87). What views did the two women share? What personal similarities did they share?

Among the Supreme Court justices with whom Ginsburg served, she singles out Justices Scalia, O’Connor, and Rehnquist for particularly warm praise and gratitude. What is ironic about her affection for these justices? What might Ginsburg say if questioned about her allegiance to these three justices?

What four “horrible” outcomes did opponents of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) warn against? How did Ginsburg deal with those dire predictions? Why did Ginsburg express the idea that the ERA) was less important today than when it was passed by Congress in the 1970s?

Why did Ginsburg seek to have the Supreme Court designate sex as a “suspect criterion” for legally distinguishing between citizens? How many federal laws did Ginsburg, Marty, and others discover that used sex as a criterion for deciding to whom a law applied?

How many cases on average do attorneys present to the Supreme Court for deliberation each year? How many cases on average does the court agree to hear? What are the various ways that the court disposes (handles) cases they agree to hear?

Ginsburg uses the term “sideglance” to describe the act of looking beyond the laws of the US or a particular state to see how other nations handle the issues that come before the Supreme Court. Why does she say it is worth examining the laws of other nations if they have no bearing on any of the US court systems?

What major Supreme Court cases did Ginsburg participate in during the course of her service?

Ginsburg made an average “bench announcement dissent” on one of every two years during her first 12 years on the court, but averaged more than two dissents per year from 2006 through 2014. Why did the number of her dissents quadruple? Why do justices write dissenting opinions, and even read them from the bench, when they know they cannot change the court’s majority decision?