AMHERST, N.Y. (WBEN) - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg highlighted women's issues, including the progression of women's rights since the 1960s, her early inspirations, relationships with current and former justices, and more during her nearly 45-minute appearance in front of a crowd at the University at Buffalo on Monday morning.
Justice Ginsburg received an honorary law degree from the University at Buffalo. She's the first Supreme Court Justice to ever appear at the University at Buffalo.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg receives her honorary law degree from the University at Buffalo. She's now in the q&a portion of her appearance. pic.twitter.com/g9BIhGSi4V
— WBEN NewsRadio 930AM (@NewsRadio930) August 26, 2019Monday's appearance by Ginsburg comes just days after the Supreme Court announced that she was recently treated for a "localized malignant tumor" on her pancreas. It was the second time that Ginsburg has had a brush with cancer in the last year. She had part of her lung removed in December after cancer cells formed. Ginsburg was also treated for pancreatic cancer in 2009 and for colon cancer in 1999.
Ginsburg did not discuss her health during her appearance on Monday other than to acknowledge that she has had health issues.
"True, (women) have not reached Nirvana," Ginsburg said. "But the progress I have seen in my lifetime makes me optimistic for the future. Our communities, nation, and world, will be increasingly improved as women achieve their rightful place in all fields of human endeavor."
Ginsburg said some of the issues facing society in the 21st century include deadly weapons, terrorism, privacy concerns in the digital age, and partisan divisions in politics.
During her question-and-answer segment with Aviva Abramovsky, the Dean of the UB School of Law, Ginsburg said she first became interested in joining law because of impressions from her law professor, Robert E. Cushman, at Cornell University. She also talked about her influences in her younger years.
"One was real and the other was fiction," Ginsburg said. "The real was Amelia Earhart, who was doing something women didn't do in her day. The fictional character was Nancy Drew, who was a doer, actor, and led her boyfriend to be her partner in solving crime. As I grew up and became a lawyer, there was some very brave women whose life encouraged me."
Ginsburg also talked about her passion for social justice issues, the 1996 Supreme Court case US v. Virginia, her friendship with Antonin Scalia, and a common trait all successful judges share.
