Friends,
Last night we learned of the passing of Justice Ginsburg, who was nothing short of an icon for millions of Americans across the country. She stood for women’s rights, civil rights, and voting rights. She cleared the way for women in the law. She fought for equal opportunity, and she never backed down.
Justice Ginsburg was a hero. And we feel the loss of this champion — of her voice, and her vote — in a year already defined by immeasurable loss.
Please see statements from Joe Biden and Senator Harris on her passing below. I hope we all find comfort in their words, and the words of many others sharing remembrances of the glorious RBG and her enduring legacy.
The Women for Biden community is in the middle of a weekend of action, reaching voters in Pennsylvania and Arizona through a Latinas for Biden bilingual phonebank at 1 PM ET today, a couch party at 7 PM ET tonight, and a women in power hour phonebank tomorrow at 2 PM ET.
We will still plan to come together for these events — and we will make space to celebrate the lift of Justice Ginsburg and take action in her honor together.
Please join us if you can. Our work continues on.
Statement by Vice President Joe Biden on the Passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Tonight our nation mourns an American hero, a giant of legal doctrine, and a relentless voice in the pursuit of that highest American ideal: Equal Justice Under Law.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg stood for all of us. She fought for all of us. As a young attorney, she persisted through every challenge that an unequal system placed in her way to change the laws of our land and lead the legal charge to advance equal rights for women. It was my honor to preside over her confirmation hearings, and to strongly support her accession to the Supreme Court. In the decades since, she was consistently and reliably the voice that pierced to the heart of every issue, protected the constitutional rights of every American, and never failed in the fierce and unflinching defense of liberty and freedom. Her opinions, and her dissents, will continue to shape the basis of our law for future generations. May her memory be a blessing to all people who cherish our Constitution and its promise.
Tonight, and in the coming days, we should be focused on the loss of Justice Ginsburg and her enduring legacy. But just so there is no doubt, let me be clear: The voters should pick a President, and that President should select a successor to Justice Ginsburg. This was the position that the Republican Senate took in 2016, when there were nearly nine months before the election. That is the position the United States Senate must take now, when the election is less than two months away. We are talking about the Constitution and the Supreme Court. That institution should not be subject to politics.
Statement by Senator Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff on the Passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Tonight we mourn, we honor, and we pray for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her family. Tomorrow we fight for her legacy.
For all who believe in the power of the law as a force for change, Justice Ginsburg was and will always be a titan. She was a relentless defender of justice in our country and a legal mind for the ages. She also remained, throughout her life, a proud daughter of Brooklyn, with immigrant roots and a fire lit from an early age as a champion for progress and equality.
Justice Ginsburg was known to pose the question, ‘What is the difference between a bookkeeper in the Garment District and a Supreme Court justice?” Her answer: “One generation.” She never forgot where she came from, or those who sacrificed to help her grow into the historic icon we all came to revere.
Even as we focus on the life that she led and process tonight’s grief, her legacy and the future of the court to which she dedicated so much can’t disappear from our effort to honor her. In some of her final moments with her family, she shared her fervent wish to “not be replaced until a new President is installed.” We will honor that wish.
Justice Ginsburg used every ounce of life she was bestowed to urge our nation down a path toward equal justice. Doug and I send our heartfelt prayers to Jane and James, and the entire Ginsburg family, particularly on this holy day of Rosh Hashanah. According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah we begin a period of reflection. Tonight, we reflect on the legacy of Justice Ginsburg and we honor her belief in creating a fair and just world by recommitting to fight for that justice.
