Sept. 18, 2020, is a day that ended with the tragic news of the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Friday night announcement came while I was listening to a documentary of former Texas governor, Ann Richards, on Youtube. I would like to think that this activity is not abnormal for a 40-something-year-old without any children. The jury is still out on that.

Richards was the first elected female governor of Texas, who was known for her feminism and one liners. She was unabashedly liberal and fervently pro-choice. I had reached the point in the documentary when Richards was sworn in as governor. Richards quoted former President John F. Kennedy and stated, “years ago John Kennedy said that ‘Life isn’t fair’ and Life isn’t fair, but government absolutely must be.” To me, this was Ann’s affirmation that the equal protection clause to the Constitution would apply to her administration. Ironically, it was at this moment that I felt the vibration of my cellphone. I read, “Ruth died.” My heart immediately sank. Few people in the legal community are known simply by their first name. Ginsburg was 87 and news reports throughout the tumultuous year of 2020 had reported the recurrence of Ginsburg’s cancer, but by all accounts, she was still working. She was the one justice that many Americans knew would be on their side when an issue came before the court, which pertained to the appellant’s equal protection under the law. In a moment, that stalwart supporter was gone.

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