Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Jurisprudence of Opportunity and Equality

Abstract

Two timeless women embody the ideals of our nation. In New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty proclaims: "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ... ."1 In Washington, D.C., the statue Contemplation of Justice sits solemnly before the main entrance to the Supreme Court of the United States.2 Above her head, on the building's architrave, appear the words "Equal Justice Under Law." These two promises, of opportunity and equality, have marked our nation's vision since its founding. The pledge of "equal justice under law" is a profound one, positing a judicial system free of corruption and favoritism as well as one that disdains distinctions of class and caste. The true achievement of our country has been not merely the original expression of this idea, but our willingness to expand our commitment, gradually, to include propertyless white men, former male slaves, other men of color, women of all races, people with disabilities, gay and lesbian citizens, and others within the circle originally reserved for the propertied white men who founded our nation. We began with a transcendent principle, but we have also had the humility to recognize our failings and to revise our behavior to draw closer to our ideal.