The documentary is based on the real-life experiences of Ginsburg, the second female Justice at the Supreme Courts of the United States, and her impact on the women’s right movement in the 1960’s and 70’s.
Her significance in the advancement of women’s rights cannot be disputed through her success in notable legal cases again the supreme court, including , Moritz v. Commissioner (1972) , Frontiero v. Richardson (1973), Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (1975) and United States v. Virginia (1996).
In Moritz v. Commissioner (1972), Ginsburg attempted to underhand the basis of the discriminative laws that stood to prevent women from gaining equal rights, by exposing the injustice of male discrimination. Charles Moritz came to her to plead a deduction in caregiver tax for his elderly sick mother, whilst he worked. By highlighting how unfairly he was treated, Ginsburg in turn undermined all other gender-based laws and therefore calls out Section 214 as being unconstitutional.
In United States v. Virginia (1996), Ginsburg fought for the attendance of female students into the all-male Virginia Military Institute. She highlighted the fact that women were just as able and had the right to join military service alongside men. Her success in the court room served to dispel all notions that women were not equal to men.
