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Ruth Bader Ginsburg: U.S. Supreme Court Justice (Women of Achievement
Describes how Ruth Bader Ginsburg overcame discrimination and tragedy to become the second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
136 pages, Library Binding
First published September 1, 2010
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About the author
Paul McCaffrey
70 books2 followersThis is the disambiguation profile for otherwise undifferentiated authors publishing as Paul McCaffrey.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 6, 2014
I read “Ruth Bader Ginsburg: U. S. Supreme Court Justice” by Paul McCaffrey in one sitting. It is only 136 pages and was released on August 10, 2010. I was expecting the book to be a more in-depth biography but it primarily covers the highlights of her life and career. The book is more typical of what you would find in a high school or college library. I did enjoy the various photographs of Ginsburg and her family. I had recently read “Particular Passion: Ruth Bader Ginsburg” by Gaylen Moore which just reviewed her career. I got the McCaffrey book because it also covered her personal life.
Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father’s family had emigrated from Russia, her mother’s family from Poland. Both families fled the persecution the Jews. The author states that Ruth was serious about her Jewish faith as a child. At age thirteen she attended a Jewish summer Program at Camp Che-Na-Wok in Mineva New York. Ginsburg states the Camp gave her a lifelong love of horseback riding which continues to pursue to this day. Ruth’s mother died of cancer the day before she graduated from high school. The author states Ginsburg was always an outstanding student and always first in her class. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in government. She married Martin Ginsburg and they both attended Harvard law School. They had a baby girl named Jane. In Martin’s last year of law school he developed cancer, had surgery and chemotherapy. Ruth took care of him, her daughter, attended law school, sat in on his classes to take notes for him. Took dictation from him and typed up his papers all while she also did law review. After graduation Martin took a job in New York City and the family moved. Ruth enrolled for her last year in Columbia Law School where she again made law review. She became the first woman to have been on two major law reviews.
Upon graduation she was unable to obtain a job as the law firms did not hire Jews or women. She finally obtained a Clerkship with Judge Edmund L. Palmieri in New York. Then she became a research associate, then associate director of the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedures. She learned Swedish and did her research at Lund University in Sweden. Ginsburg was impressed with the Swedish system of child care, and also with how advanced women’s right were compared to the United States. She wrote a book on Civil Procedures in Sweden. They had another child a boy named James. She became a law professor at Rutgers University, and then went on to Columbia University Law School where she became the Law Schools first tenured women law professor. She argued cases on sexual discrimination (mostly women) before the Supreme Court making her a well known advocated on women’s rights. President James Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 14, 1980. President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Supreme Court June 14, 1993. She was the second woman and the first Jewish women appointed to the Supreme Court. Martin died in 2010. Ruth’s daughter Jane is a professor of law at Columbia University. She also graduated from Columbia, making them the first mother-daughter team to graduated Columbia Law School and become professors. I am still looking for an in-depth biography of Ginsburg. I read this as an e-book via the Kindle app for iPad.
Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father’s family had emigrated from Russia, her mother’s family from Poland. Both families fled the persecution the Jews. The author states that Ruth was serious about her Jewish faith as a child. At age thirteen she attended a Jewish summer Program at Camp Che-Na-Wok in Mineva New York. Ginsburg states the Camp gave her a lifelong love of horseback riding which continues to pursue to this day. Ruth’s mother died of cancer the day before she graduated from high school. The author states Ginsburg was always an outstanding student and always first in her class. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in government. She married Martin Ginsburg and they both attended Harvard law School. They had a baby girl named Jane. In Martin’s last year of law school he developed cancer, had surgery and chemotherapy. Ruth took care of him, her daughter, attended law school, sat in on his classes to take notes for him. Took dictation from him and typed up his papers all while she also did law review. After graduation Martin took a job in New York City and the family moved. Ruth enrolled for her last year in Columbia Law School where she again made law review. She became the first woman to have been on two major law reviews.
Upon graduation she was unable to obtain a job as the law firms did not hire Jews or women. She finally obtained a Clerkship with Judge Edmund L. Palmieri in New York. Then she became a research associate, then associate director of the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedures. She learned Swedish and did her research at Lund University in Sweden. Ginsburg was impressed with the Swedish system of child care, and also with how advanced women’s right were compared to the United States. She wrote a book on Civil Procedures in Sweden. They had another child a boy named James. She became a law professor at Rutgers University, and then went on to Columbia University Law School where she became the Law Schools first tenured women law professor. She argued cases on sexual discrimination (mostly women) before the Supreme Court making her a well known advocated on women’s rights. President James Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 14, 1980. President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Supreme Court June 14, 1993. She was the second woman and the first Jewish women appointed to the Supreme Court. Martin died in 2010. Ruth’s daughter Jane is a professor of law at Columbia University. She also graduated from Columbia, making them the first mother-daughter team to graduated Columbia Law School and become professors. I am still looking for an in-depth biography of Ginsburg. I read this as an e-book via the Kindle app for iPad.
October 17, 2014
This book was very similar to the previous book by Carmen Bredesen, but finished up well after the previous book as it was written many years later. Again very interesting.
January 8, 2017
A delightful easy-read shedding light on RBG's personal life as much as her honor's career.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews