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2024 Bar Benchmarks Center For Bar Leadership ISBN 9781639055852

On Being American: The Jurisprudence of Ruth Bader Ginsburg examines the legacy of an advocate and jurist devoted to an expansive and inclusive understanding of American citizenship. As highlighted in the Foreword by Linda Greenhouse, Justice Ginsburg envisioned an America in which people of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences could coexist in civic harmony. At the heart of her jurisprudence was the principle of anti-stereotyping, which she viewed as essential to expanding both who counts as an American and what full citizenship entails. Recognizing that this vision depended on effective lawmaking, Justice Ginsburg was a steadfast defender of voting rights and the democratic choices that broaden participation in civic life. In her later dissents in abortion cases, she cautioned that abandoning the anti-stereotyping principle posed a profound threat to reproductive freedom.

The editors bring readers as close as possible to a posthumous articulation of Justice Ginsburg’s views in Dobbs by including the amici curiae brief authored by Serena Mayeri, Melissa Murray, and Reva Siegel as a featured chapter. The book then turns to the post-Dobbs landscape, exploring what the Equal Rights Amendment might have meant to Justice Ginsburg and how her jurisprudence would have addressed contemporary forms of discrimination. Rather than engaging in abstraction, the final chapter applies her legal philosophy to the lived realities of those most affected by inequality, offering a powerful reflection on the enduring relevance of her work.

2024 Bar Benchmarks Center For Bar Leadership ISBN 9781639055852, 978-1639055852 & 978-16390-55852

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Center For Bar Leadership