The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a trailblazer for women's rights, has left many inspired and ready to continue the work championed by the late justice, including Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center.
"I will keep her memory with me as we forge extraordinary fights ahead and I am, again, buoyed by her last words, which to me are a meaningful and real reminder that the best way to respect her legacy is to fight for this court and this institution," Graves told Cheddar, referring to reports that Ginsburg requested she not be replaced on the Court until the next president is sworn in. Despite the wish, Republicans are planning to move forward quickly.
For Graves, her own mission and life's work, she said, would not be at all possible without Ginsburg's efforts in court.
"The National Women's Law Center as an organization would not have existed but for that landmark Reed decision that Justice Ginsburg argued," she stated.
In the case of Reed v. Reed, as then-head of the Women's Rights Project at the ACLU, Ginsburg successfully argued that not appointing a woman as the administrator of an estate solely based on sex was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decision in the case led the way for other gender discrimination cases and subsequent changes to hundreds of laws that discriminated against women.
Graves said that while Ginsburg's death was felt immensely across many demographics, the loss is particularly hard for female lawyers.
"She is an icon broadly, but for women lawyers in this country and for those who deeply understand justice and what it means, she's really a hero," she continued.
Ginsburg was known for using her judicial platform to acknowledge legal difficulties faced by the disenfranchised and underrepresented, often pointing out to her peers, particularly on the Supreme Court, that their decisions have real-life consequences.
"People saw her as a champion for real people at the Court. And she ensured that the Court didn't seem too disconnected, including in her very last term," Graves explained.
While the justice may have been 87 years old, the impact of her work, according to Graves, is even connecting with children.
"There are drawings and flowers and art in her memory and people are coming and using it as an opportunity to tell their children not only about Justice Ginsburg and her life but about her legacy. Her legacy for justice and her legacy for the people," she said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union, pleading with the bloc to accept this request. It comes as Russian forces push further into Ukraine, forcing at least half a million refugees to flee. Benjamin Schmitt, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, breaks down the latest in Ukraine.
A growing wave of major U.S. companies have taken steps to cut ties with Russia or offer support to Ukraine, as tensions escalate in the region. Exxon, Apple and Boeing are just the latest companies to make the move, following the likes of Google, Meta and BP who have all announced plans to exit the region in response to the conflict. Courtney Vinopal, Breaking News Reporter, Quartz joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
A hospital basement in Ukraine’s coastal city of Mariupol has transformed into a bomb shelter and maternity ward amid shelling during Russia’s invasion.
World leaders are currently dealing with a handful of pressing issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic; but it could be argued that the most pressing issue is one that has experienced its fair share of neglect in the past -- climate change. As tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine, there is fear the focus on climate will once again be pushed aside. However, the White House appears to be making some effort to prevent that from happening. The White House Office of Science and Technology held a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion with some of the nation's leading climate scientists on Thursday. Michael Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and author of the book 'The New Climate War' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as one of the climate scientists at the White House event.
Scott Clemons, Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the factors leading to the sell-off on Wall Street today and explains why uncertainty is worse than bad news for the investors.
U.S. stocks rebounded to end higher on Thursday after President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia following the country's attack on Ukraine. The Dow was down 859 points at its lowest point of the session, before ultimately finishing the day in the green. Melissa Armo, founder and owner of the Stock Swoosh, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
People of African and Middle Eastern descent fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are facing the double trauma of racism at the borders. Professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco, Bill Hing, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what some are describing as a double standard for other refugees escaping the war. "Those that are from the Middle East and from Africa who just happen to be in Ukraine, for example on a student visa, they are not going to be able to get into Poland or another area of the Schengen area because they are not natural Ukrainian," he said.
Add FIFA to the list of organizations announcing a break with Russia. The world soccer authority has suspended the nation from competing in the 2022 World Cup tournament, while the NHL also announced suspending business relations with Russia. Executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, Jon Wertheim, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rebukes. "I think a big element of this is, this is a way to really hit at Putin because we know how much this appearance of strength and the victory… often portrayed through sports, how much that means to him," he said. "This will bother him in a way that it might not bother other world leaders."
