Virtual Event: Amanda Tyler

Harvard Book Store's virtual event series welcomes AMANDA TYLER—Shannon Cecil Turner Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and former law clerk to the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg—for a discussion of her co-authored book, Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life's Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union. She will be joined in conversation by JEANNIE SUK GERSEN, the John H. Watson, Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

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About Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue

In the fall of 2019, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited the University of California, Berkeley School of Law to deliver the first annual Herma Hill Kay Memorial Lecture in honor of her friend, the late Herma Hill Kay, with whom Ginsburg had coauthored the very first casebook on sex-based discrimination in 1974. Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue is the result of a period of collaboration between Ginsburg and Amanda L. Tyler, a Berkeley Law professor and former Ginsburg law clerk. During Justice Ginsburg's visit to Berkeley, she told her life story in conversation with Tyler. In this collection, the two bring together that conversation and other materials—many previously unpublished—that share details from Justice Ginsburg's family life and long career. These include notable briefs and oral arguments, some of Ginsburg's last speeches, and her favorite opinions that she wrote as a Supreme Court Justice (many in dissent), along with the statements that she read from the bench in those important cases. Each document was chosen by Ginsburg and Tyler to tell the story of the litigation strategy and optimistic vision that were at the heart of Ginsburg's unwavering commitment to the achievement of "a more perfect Union."

In a decades-long career, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an advocate and jurist for gender equality and for ensuring that the United States Constitution leaves no person behind. Her work transformed not just the American legal landscape, but American society more generally. Ginsburg labored tirelessly to promote a Constitution that is ever more inclusive and that allows every individual to achieve their full human potential. As revealed in these pages, in the area of gender rights, Ginsburg dismantled long-entrenched systems of discrimination based on outdated stereotypes by showing how such laws hold back both genders. And as also shown in the materials brought together here, Justice Ginsburg had a special ability to appreciate how the decisions of the high court impact the lived experiences of everyday Americans. The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020 as this book was heading into production was met with a public outpouring of grief. With her death, the country lost a hero and national treasure whose incredible life and legacy made the United States a more just society and one in which “We the People,” for whom the Constitution is written, includes everyone.

Praise for Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue

"Every word Ruth Bader Ginsburg left us is precious, and this book is a treasure trove. Don't live your days without it." —Gloria Steinem, feminist activist and author

"Want to know what RBG's favorite opinions were? Or hear about her repeated battles with cancer? Or read her message about how important it is for all Americans to play their part in helping to achieve 'a more perfect Union'? Prior to Justice Ginsburg's death, she and her onetime law clerk Professor Amanda Tyler managed to assemble this book that weaves together multiple aspects of Ginsburg's life, both legal and personal, into a wide-ranging yet accessible volume that will leave the reader inspired." —Nina Totenberg, Legal Affairs Correspondent, National Public Radio

"The inspiring and persuasive power of Justice Ginsburg's voice emanates from every page of this book. Her reflections on her own journey as daughter, wife, mother, lawyer are as resonant as her powerful opinions—often in dissent—in telling the story of the struggle of American women for gender equality, and in articulating with penetrating clarity the uniquely stubborn persistence of racial inequality in American life." —Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc