RUTH BE TOLD
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was driving down a New Jersey highway when she called to celebrate the case that changed my life.
It was March 19, 1975, and she had to pull over to find a pay phone to give me the news: The United State Supreme Court had ruled in our favor, deciding I was entitled, as a widower, to a Social Security benefit of $206 a month after my wife, Paula, had died in childbirth.
The all-male bench handed us the victory 8-0, and Ruth was very excited. Her strategy had worked.
The case, known as Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, propelled Ruth into national fame. For years afterward, she would say it was her favorite.
It also forged a friendship lasting almost five decades.
Paula had died in 1972 while giving birth to our son, Jason, but in those days, the Social Security survivor’s benefit was handed out only to widows.
I wrote a letter to the editor of my local paper, and Ruth called me. By February 1973, she had filed a case in federal court in Trenton, NJ, on my behalf that worked its way to the Supreme Court by January 1975.
She was making the case from three points of view: my wife’s, my son’s and mine. She wanted the eight male justices — Justice William O. Douglas was ill — to see me, so they could identify with who was bringing this case.
Watching her in court, I could see she was very confident. She spoke for about 20 minutes before the justices asked any questions.
It was the only case in which Justice William Rehnquist voted in her favor. She was very proud of that.
It was years before I found out I was the only client she ever took to sit before the Supreme Court as she argued a case.
Not long ago, we found out three justices discussed the case before they even heard it.
They were discussing how disgusting it was that a male wanted to stay home and take care of a child.
The win allowed me to stay home with Jason, which I did for nine years, and of course allowed other widowers and their children to receive the same benefits.
Ruth presided over Jason’s wedding in 1998, and my second wedding, in 2014. My wife, Elaine, got to meet her the night before the ceremony in her chambers at the Supreme Court.
Ruth would break the line of the US marshals protecting her if she would see me at an event. She would always come right over to me and give me a big hug.