Legal community reflects on an 'icon'
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg inspired those working in law across the country, including right here in Butler County.
“I just think that her life and her career is something that everyone should reflect on and grab some strong positive messages to take forward,” said Judge Marilyn Horan, a Butler resident who serves in the U.S. Western District Court in Pittsburgh. “She has a great legacy that she's left us.”
Ginsburg died Friday due to complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg, who was Jewish, died on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.
Judge Tom Doerr, the president judge of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, said he has some knowledge of the Jewish faith and there is symbolism to the timing of Ginsburg's death.“If you die immediately on or during Rash Hashanah, in Jewish faith, that's considered for the most- righteous people,” Doerr said. “That description describes Justice Ginsburg. She was very righteous.”Attorney Dennis W. McCurdy, who practices out of Harmony, said Ginsburg made the “right decisions” based on solid legal evidence and thorough discussion.“I thought she was one of the last bastions of a Supreme Court that is dedicated to the law over politics and policy,” McCurdy said.Ginsburg was nominated by President Bill Clinton and had served since Aug. 10, 1993.Ginsburg became the second female justice to be confirmed to the Court. Sandra Day O'Connor was the first. She has been hailed a hero for her feminist views, but respected by peers for her hard work.
“She's an icon in the legal world, not only for legal jurisprudence, but also for women. She was a trailblazer,” said Horan. “As a woman, I followed her career, and I have great respect for what all she had accomplished and the examples she set.”Horan, who served as a Butler County judge for 22 years, said aside from her own merits and hard work, she recognized the path she traveled down was created over many years by Ginsburg and others, who were fighting inequality at a time when opportunities for women were scarce.“They have been at the forefront of my entire career,” Horan said. “They've been the beacons out there.“I think we all will miss her, as a society. She was an anchor,” Horan said. “She was an inspiration.”In 1993, on the second day of her confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court, Ginsburg defended women's right to abortion and in doing so fought the government's limitations on women.“If you impose restraints, you are disadvantaging her because of her sex,” Ginsburg said at the time. “The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality.”McCurdy said Ginsburg fought hard for what she believed in, but also meticulously defended her position by the book.“She never gave up. She was tenacious. She had her principles, and if the law supported them, she fought until she didn't have any fight left in her,” he said. “She worked hard to try to help others see her position, not force her position. That to me was important.”Doerr said he was impressed at what Ginsburg achieved.“She started at the bottom rung, and she worked her way up through,” he said. “I think that contributed to her understanding of how the justice system works.”McCurdy said with the loss of Ginsburg, politics and agendas may find their way into the Supreme Court, which should remain solely focused on the law.“I think we've lost that perspective,” McCurdy said. “I don't want a liberal justice appointed. I don't want a conservative justice appointed. I want a judicial scholar appointed.”Both McCurdy and Doerr pointed to a relationship between Ginsburg and the late Justice Antonin Scalia as an example of how things should and hopefully will be in the future.Doerr said the two were close friends outside the courtroom and respected one another within it, even when they differed widely in their positions.“I think that's a good example for us to live by,” he said. “You have to have respect for the other side's opinions.”
