1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. Lauren Boglebaum here. On August tenth, a force 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: of nature entered the Supreme Court of the United States, 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,119 Speaker 1: and in the twenty seven years following her oath of office, 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg definitely earned her nickname the Notorious RBG. 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: As the first Jewish woman and the second female justice 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: ever to serve on the Supreme Court, Ginsburg entered the 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: position already a trailblazer, but it was her incomparable work, 9 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: ethic and tireless commitment to gender equality the truly set 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: her apart. Ginsburg was one of only nine women in 11 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: her Harvard Law school class in nineteen fifty six. In 12 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: an interview with the documentary series makers, she later said, 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: you felt in classes as if all eyes were on you, 14 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: and that if you didn't perform well, you'd be failing 15 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: not only for yourself but for all women. Ginsburg also 16 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: attributed part of her success in law school to parenting 17 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: a fourteen month old daughter at the time of her studies. 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: She was ranked first in her class at Harvard and Columbia, 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: the school she transferred to for her senior year. While 20 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: Ginsburg had already established herself as an uncommonly accomplished and 21 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: driven legal powerhouse by the time President Bill Clinton nominated 22 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: her for the Supreme Court in June of It was 23 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: the decisions she made after that that earned her a 24 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: coveted position. There was nothing short of historic. Ginsburg died 25 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: on September eighteenth, twenty of complications from metastatic cancer of 26 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: the pancreas, but her accomplishments live on today. Let's talk 27 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: about three of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's most essential Supreme Court cases, 28 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: in which her concurring opinion helped make our country a 29 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: little bit more just for its citizens. So, after taking 30 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: some time to settle into her role as an Associate Justice, 31 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: Ginsburg began making a name for herself as an advocate 32 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: for gender equality and women's rights. In the case of 33 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: the United States versus Virginia made that clear. At the time, 34 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: Virginia Military Institute, or vm I, remained the only school 35 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: that only admitted one gender among Virginia's public institutions of 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: higher learning. Alumni of vm i's Citizens Soldier Training were 37 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: considered hot commodities in the job market because the school's 38 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: unique curriculum was designed to prepare students for leadership positions 39 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: in both civilian life and military service. Thanks to the 40 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: competitive edge that the institution gave alumni, vm I had 41 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: the largest per student endowment of all public undergraduate institutions 42 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: in the country. The United States sued v m I 43 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: and the state of Virginia, alleging that the school's men 44 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: only admission policy violated the Fourteenth Amendments Equal Protection Clause, 45 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: which prohibits states from denying anyone the equal protection of 46 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: their laws. Virginia argued that the restriction was fair game 47 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: because women wouldn't be able to handle the rigorous nature 48 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,399 Speaker 1: of the program, but vm I also attempted to cover 49 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,799 Speaker 1: its spaces by proposing a parallel program for women called 50 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,959 Speaker 1: the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership or v w I 51 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: l located at the private all women liberal arts school, 52 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: Mary Baldwin College. Ginsburg and the majority on the court 53 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: weren't convinced. Writing for the seven to one majority, Ginsburg asserted, 54 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: Virginia maintains that methodological differences are justified by the important 55 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: differences between men and women in learning and developmental needs, 56 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: but generalizations about the way women are estimates of what 57 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: is appropriate for most women, no longer justified denying opportunity 58 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: to women whose talent and capacity placed them outside the 59 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: average description. Ginsburg also stated that the v w I 60 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: L was not an adequate compromise, since the Court considered 61 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: it quote a pale shadow of vm I in terms 62 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: of the range of curricular choices and faculty stature, funding, prestige, 63 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: alumni support, and influence. The school contemplated going private to 64 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: circumvent the ruling, but its board decided in a close vote, 65 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: just eight to seven, to finally let women through the doors, 66 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: thus ending the existence of men only public universities in America. 67 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: Of course, the Supreme Court hears all kinds of cases, 68 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,279 Speaker 1: not just gender issues. But let's talk about Friends of 69 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: the Earth versus laid Law Environmental Services. In the year 70 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: two thousand, when laid Law Environmental Services Incorporated bought a 71 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 1: wastewater treatment plant, it was granted a National Pollutant Discharge 72 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: Elimination System permit that granted it permission to discharge treated 73 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: water and limited pollutants. However, laid Law repeatedly released amounts 74 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: of mercury into South Carolina's North Tiger River that exceeded 75 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: those limits and Eventually, plaintive petitioners Friends of the Earth 76 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 1: and others filed a citizens suit under the Clean Water Act, 77 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: which regulates the discharge of pollutants. After lawsuit began, laid 78 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: Law began to comply with the permit and argued that 79 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: the case was now moot, meaning resolved, because the company 80 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: had corrected its wrongdoing. But the Supreme Court wasn't having it. 81 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: In the seven to two opinion delivered by Ginsburg, the 82 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: Court held that a case from a citizen for civil 83 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: penalties does not have to be dismissed as moot just 84 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: because the defendant begins complying with regulations after litigation has 85 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:30,599 Speaker 1: already begun. In part, Ginsburg wrote, a defendant's voluntary cessation 86 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: of allegedly unlawful contact ordinarily does not suffice to moot 87 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: a case. Congress has found that several penalties in the 88 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,160 Speaker 1: Clean Water Act cases do more than promote immediate compliance. 89 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: They also deter future violations. And then, more recently was 90 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: the case of a Burgha Fell versus Hodges In. In 91 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: this case, fourteen same sex couples and two men whose 92 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: same sex partners had passed away filed suits in their 93 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: home states of Michigan, in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. At 94 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,160 Speaker 1: the time, all four of these states defined marriage as 95 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: a union between one man and one woman. The petitioners 96 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: said that this narrow definition violated the Fourteenth Amendment because 97 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: it denied them the right to get married or to 98 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: have the marriages they had received in other states legally 99 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 1: recognized at home. After the trial courts in each state 100 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: sided with the plaintiffs, the rulings were appealed in the U. S. 101 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where the decisions 102 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: were reversed and it was ruled that state bands did not, 103 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: in fact violate the couple's Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal 104 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: protection and due process. This split led to the Supreme 105 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: Court review. It was a close vote. Ginsburg excited with 106 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: the five to four majority in the ruling, which held 107 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: the same sex marriage bands are indeed violations of the 108 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: Fourteenth Amendments, due process and equal protection clauses. Justice Anthony 109 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion, the Constitution promises liberty 110 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 1: to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain 111 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: specific rights that allow persons within a lawful realm to 112 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: define and express their identity This landmark civil rights case 113 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: legalized same sex marriage across the United States, giving hundreds 114 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: of thousands of lgbt Q plus Americans the same rights 115 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: and protections guaranteed to hetero sexual couples by both the 116 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: Due Process claus and the Equal Protection Clause of the 117 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Thanks to Justice 118 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: Ginsburg for her tireless work in promoting fairness and equality. 119 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: May her memory be a blessing. Today's episode was written 120 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler Klang. For more 121 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: on this lots of other curious topics, visit how stuff 122 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio. 123 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: Or more podcasts to my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 124 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 125 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: favorite shows.