KINGSTON – Ruth Bader Ginsburg enjoyed the opera, and that’s what you heard as many people gathered outside the Ulster County Courthouse when the day fell into night Sunday.
The second female justice to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court died Friday after succumbing to the multiple cancers she fought for many years, and March Gallagher, the Ulster County comptroller and a lawyer organized Sunday’s memorial to honor the feminist and civil rights icon.
“I was in Rosh Hashanah services when I heard about the passing of Justice Ginsburg, and as an attorney, she’s been a big inspiration to me,” she said. “I wanted to get together with a few friends. A few friends, I think could turn into a few hundred friends.”
For Gallagher and others, Bader Ginsburg’s passing brought out the importance of her legacy, and how she has shaped modern life in America.
“She had such impact on the fabric of our lives. Gender equality, but also other area of jurist-prudence,” said Gallagher. “I may not be able to get a mortgage in my own name or get a credit card without her legal work. She’s been very important to the American life that we know.”
KT Tobin, the deputy village mayor of New Paltz, attended the memorial, and she is grateful to Bader Ginsburg for the work she did to help women.
“RGB is a feminist icon, and we owe so much to her,” said Tobin. “She was this amazingly incredible trailblazer. The list is long that women wouldn’t be able to do today if she hadn’t done what she did.”
Within hours of Bader Ginsburg’s passing, a fight was brewing in Washington D.C. as to who and when she would be replaced.
NEWS STORY PROVIDED BY: Mid Hudson News -www.midhudsonnews.com