Professor Pamela Bookman, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, recalls her memories of the late Justice in a letter to the editor in The New York Times.
Clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2009 and 2010 was a thrilling experience and the honor of a lifetime. It was also challenging. We worked long hours, faced difficult decisions, and struggled to channel the justice’s commanding voice and meet her exacting standards.
But it was also challenging for other reasons. The justice’s husband, Marty, was diagnosed with cancer around the time we started our clerkship. His health declined throughout the term.
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The day after Marty died, the justice came to the court. And every day after that. She meticulously wrote and edited her decisions. She was dedicated to making sure that even those on the losing side — especially those on the losing side — understood the reasoning behind the decision.
She never accepted things the way they were, and she never stopped fighting to make the world fairer for all of us.