I served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Three years after her passing, her teachings about democracy resonate even more.
Today marks the third anniversary of Justice Ginsburg’s passing. That day, and the ceremony that followed, are days that I remember vividly. I joined with other law clerks and stood vigil through the night. We watched streams of her admirers – parents with their daughters and their sons, couples, friends, singles, young and old, Americans of every background, each with their own story – pass by to pay their respects.
Many people ask me about Justice Ginsburg, and there is no shortage of writing about her careful judgments that placed people front and center. I prefer to share what she thought about democracy and activism. I want to share what she was trying to tell us about the power each of us has to make a difference and the urgency that we make good use of it.
Reprinted below is an open letter I wrote on The Civics Center blog a few days after she passed away. It’s addressed to Future Voters – high school students who too often receive cynical messages telling them they have no power; it’s not true. We need to keep reminding ourselves that we can make a difference, and we need to reinforce this for young people, especially as they become adults and enter our democracy..
In RBG’s writing, you will find the phrase “path marking” more than “ground breaking.”
It’s my hope that by reflecting on RBG’s life and work, young readers, especially, will find a bit more light to mark their own paths forward.
What RBG was telling us: Grab a teaspoon
Originally published Sep 20, 2020
Dear Future Voters,
I was so lucky to spend a year at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC serving as a law clerk to Justice Ginsburg. I remember special moments in her inner chambers gathered around her table listening to her describe how the court would be deciding recently argued cases. She gathered us at that same table for orange cake prepared by her husband Marty for law clerk birthdays. She also was a rock star, and inspired young people everywhere with her leadership, strength, and grace.
RBG inspired me, as well, for so many reasons. One of those was her commitment to voting rights.
RBG wrote with increasing urgency in the past few years about the challenges to our democracy.
Earlier this year, she dissented in a case about voting in the Wisconsin primary election. I wish I had something optimistic to offer from that opinion, but I don’t. It’s a fire alarm.
A district court had entered a preliminary injunction to extend the deadlines for requesting and submitting absentee ballots. The district court had concluded that because of COVID-19, existing deadlines for absentee voting would unconstitutionally burden Wisconsin citizens’ right to vote. Although an appellate court affirmed, a five-Justice majority entered a stay to prevent the counting of ballots received after the original deadline.
Justice Ginsburg dissented. She wrote as follows:
Either [Wisconsin voters] will have to brave the polls, endangering their own and others’ safety. Or they will lose their right to vote, through no fault of their own. That is a matter of utmost importance—to the constitutional rights of Wisconsin’s citizens, the integrity of the State’s election process, and in this most extraordinary time, the health of the Nation.
RBG had no TikTok account to amplify her message. Instead, she wrote phrases like “utmost importance,” and she was counting on us to pay attention and to do something. What she was saying in that case was even in a pandemic, we cannot count on the Supreme Court to protect our elections.
The Supreme Court’s decision in the Wisconsin primary case, unfortunately, was not an isolated occurrence. Justice Ginsburg warned us that the Court was not protecting voting rights in her 2013 dissent in Shelby County v. Holder. The Court there invalidated part of the Voting Rights Act, which was continuing to work to protect against discriminatory elections. She wrote that the decision was like “throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”
Everyone loves that quote. It helped make RBG “notorious.” Her dark, metallic dissent collar became a cottage industry, with t-shirts and earrings.
Symbols are important, and a dissent collar is as good as any. But let’s be clear on what the symbol means. It means there was a loss. It means the loss was serious. It means the votes do not exist to maintain important constitutional or statutory principles.
She also wrote that when we act together, we can make a difference.
In an address last year in Stockholm, the Justice spoke about the “Order of the Teaspoon,” an anti-hate group for students and teachers. It was inspired by a passage by the writer Amos Oz in “How to Cure a Fanatic.”
Oz imagined one person watching a huge calamity, like a fire, and Oz identified three main options. First, run away. Second, write an angry letter. The third option, though, has more promise.
“Bring a bucket of water and throw it on the fire, and if you don’t have a bucket, bring a glass, and if you don’t have a glass, use a teaspoon, everyone has a teaspoon. And yes, I know a teaspoon is little and the fire is huge but there are millions of us and each one of us has a teaspoon….”
A teaspoon. A glass. A bucket. It’s great to imagine these everyday items rescuing us from all the fires raging right now. Each item is small. Collected with others, however, they can have enormous impact.
But the collection doesn’t happen automatically. That’s where the work is. A step in that work is identifying the resources we already have and remembering that others have organized effectively with less.
RBG wanted us to know that each one of us already has a teaspoon, a glass, and a bucket.
We have a vote and the ability to influence those around us who can vote. We have values and stories. We are connected through relationships. We already know that equality, dignity, and care are important in public life. We don’t need anyone’s permission to speak openly about what we want for the future of the country, our communities, our families, and ourselves.
When RBG graduated from law school at the top of her class, no law firm would hire her. She had to work as part of a movement to create the conditions in which her own gifts could have an impact. The whole country benefited from that effort.
And as we mourn her loss, we can also honor her by committing to carrying on her work. Grab a teaspoon and join us.