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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Incumbent Assumed office August 10, 1993 Nominated by Bill Clinton Preceded by Byron White Born March 15, 1933 (1933-03-15) (age 75) Brooklyn, New York Spouse Martin Ginsburg Alma mater Cornell University Columbia Law School Religion Jewish[1] Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15, 1933, Brooklyn, New York) is an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton with the support of Republican Judiciary Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch in 1993 and generally votes with the liberal wing of the court. She is the second female Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor being the first, and the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, Ginsburg served as a federal judge for 13 years on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In practice, she spent a considerable portion of her career as an advocate for the equal citizenship status of women and men as a constitutional principle. She engaged in advocacy as a volunteer lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, and was a member of the ACLU's Board and one of its General Counsel in the 1970s. She served as a professor at Rutgers School of Law in Newark and Columbia Law School. In 1999, Ginsburg had surgery for colorectal cancer and underwent chemotherapy for eight months.[2] On February 5, 2009, she was hospitalized at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for surgery relating to pancreatic cancer.[3] Contents [hide] Biography Early life Ruth Joan Bader was born March 15, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, and was nicknamed "Kiki" by her family. She was the second daughter of Nathan and Celia (née Amster) Bader.[4] The family belonged to the East Midwood Jewish Center, where she was one of the few people who took her confirmation seriously, and at age thirteen acted as the "camp rabbi" at a Jewish summer program at Camp Che-Na-Wah in Minerva, New York.[citation needed] Her mother took an active role in her education, taking her to the library often. Ginsburg attended James Madison High School, whose law program later dedicated a courtroom in her honor. Her older sister died when she was very young. Her mother struggled with cancer throughout Ruth's high school years and died the day before her graduation.[citation needed] Law career Ruth Bader married Martin D. Ginsburg, later a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and an internationally prominent tax lawyer, in 1954. Their daughter Jane is Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law at the Columbia Law School, and their son James is founder and president of Cedille Records, a classical music recording company based in Chicago. Ginsburg received | ||||
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