Not a law firm in the entire city of New York bid for my employment as a lawyer when I earned my degree.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining protective measures against discrimination, even when they seem unnecessary at the moment.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's quote highlights the fallacy of abandoning effective safeguards simply because their necessity isn't immediately visible. Just as one wouldn't discard an umbrella during a rainstorm, it's crucial to uphold preclearance provisions to combat discrimination proactively, ensuring that rights are protected even when overt threats are not apparent.
Themes
DiscriminationPreclearanceJusticeSafeguardsProtection
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be mentioned in a discussion about voting rights to emphasize the importance of protective measures.
More from Ruth Bader Ginsburg
All quotes →If you want to influence people, you want them to accept your suggestions, you don't say, 'You don't know how to use the English language,' or 'How could you make that argument?' It will be welcomed much more if you have a gentle touch than if you are aggressive.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
I try to teach through my opinions, through my speeches, how wrong it is to judge people on the basis of what they look like, color of their skin, whether they're men or women.
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The worst times were the years I was alone. The image to the public entering the courtroom was eight men, of a certain size, and then this little woman sitting to the side. That was not a good image for the public to see.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
A constitution, as important as it is, will mean nothing unless the people are yearning for liberty and freedom.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
My resume showed membership on both the Harvard and Columbia Law Reviews, a credit impressive abroad where it was not generally known that Law Reviews were student-operated publications.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
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