Press Release
Published on September 20, 2020
WASHINGTON – The United States, the rule of law, and the field of human rights lost a hero and a champion when Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday.
From her early career working to protect and advance the rights of women across America to her “speaking truth to power” decisions on the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg’s focus was on protecting those whose rights have historically been abridged.
“Justice Ginsburg was stalwart in her defense of justice and equality, and a courageous activist for the rights of all people,” said Human Rights First’s president Michael Breen. “Even when she was not in the majority, she was on the right side of history. Hers was proof that one life can really matter.”
Human Rights First and our allies recognize her as a trailblazer in the field of human rights: in the Virginia Military Institute and Ledbetter v. Goodyear cases, she fought for equal rights for women; in Trump’s Muslim ban case and the case that upheld DACA, she stood for the right of immigrants; and just this summer in Bostock v. Clayton County, she defended the rights of gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans in the workplace. She was a steadfast champion for human rights.
While a justice of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s stature can never be replaced, Human Rights First demands that anyone nominated to sit in her seat on the Supreme Court share her respect for issues of human rights, the rule of law, and equal justice. We will scour the record of any nominee to ensure that they stand for the protection of human rights of all Americans. And we will hold them to account.
