86-Year-Old Judge Gets a Million Dollars for Battle Against Discrimination – and Gives It Away

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman ever named to the U.S. Supreme Court, was awarded for her work in battling discrimination with a one-million-dollar prize, which she will be donating to charities or non-profits.

“Ginsburg is a lifelong trailblazer for human rights and gender equality,” says the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute in awarding its annual prize for philosophy and culture.

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg rose from modest beginnings to become one of the most respected, and most beloved, jurists of our time,” adds Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania and a prize juror. “She inspires women and men of all ages to realize that a democracy thrives to the extent that it provides every citizen equal footing to achieve their dreams.”