Meghan Markle and her heartfelt tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “She has been a true inspiration to me since I was a child”
In a statement, the Duchess of Sussex expressed her regret at the death of the historic justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Meghan Markle has spoken out on the death of historic United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away at age 87 on Friday night after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
In a statement, the 39-year-old Duchess of Sussex said: "She has been a true inspiration to me since I was a child. Honor her, remember her, act for her."
"With an unrivaled and indelible legacy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg will always be known as a brilliant woman and a human being of deep conviction."
The Duchess currently lives in Santa Barbára, California, with Prince Harry, 36, and their one-year-old son Archie, after resigning from British royalty in March.
Before being named a member of the high court, she argued six gender equality cases between 1973 and 1976, of which she won five.
It was in 1975 when Ginsburg made the magistrates see that gender discrimination was a fundamental problem that hurt men and women equally. She did so from the case of Stephen Wiesenfeld, a man who was denied financial aid by the Government because it was reserved for women. Ginsburg got the justices to rule unanimously in her favor, and shortly thereafter the Supreme Court agreed to review whether, for centuries, she had acted with a macho bias.
Ginsburg's fight for equality acquired a new dimension in 1980, when she left the legal profession to wear the judge's gown and go to the appeals court in the capital of the United States, where she earned a reputation for being moderate and cautious and from where she gave the jump to the Supreme Court in 1993 thanks to the appointment of Democratic President Bill Clinton.
She was the second woman to reach the highest court in the United States, after Sandra Day O'Connor, for whom Ginsburg professed great admiration despite representing opposite poles on an ideological level.
In the United States, supreme court judges are appointed by presidents, who often choose justices who are in accordance with their legal philosophy.
Prince Harry's wife is just one of many public figures who spoke out about the death of Ginsburg, who was widely regarded as a feminist icon.
Actress Jennifer Lopez said on Instagram: "I am heartbroken. She was a true advocate for gender equality and she was a strong woman for me and for all the girls in the world to look up to."
Ginsburg, also remembered as the court's longest-serving judge, was appointed by President Bill Clinton and joined the court in 1993. He held his seat for more than 27 years. Before embarking on her career in public service, Ginsburg grew up in a working-class family in Brooklyn, New York. It is currently unknown who will fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Ginsburg.
Democratic Party vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris described Ginsburg as "a titan, a tireless advocate for justice."
Former President Barack Obama also shared his official statement on Twitter, saying that the late Supreme Court Justice "fought to the end, through her cancer, with an unshakable faith in our democracy and its ideals."
Obama praised Ginsburg as a "warrior for gender equality, someone who believed that equal justice under the law only makes sense if it applies to all Americans."
