County activists honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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On a chilly and somber Sunday, the front of the State Supreme Court in Garden City became a place to grieve the late 27-year associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at 87 last Friday.

Jude Schanzer, 67, an East Meadow Library employee from Freeport, said the passing of Ginsburg was the only occasion that could have brought her out to such an event on a day that also happened to be during Rosh Hashanah.

“I don’t know why I took Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death so personally, but I did,” Schanzer said. “Part of it is because I’m Jewish… I got two stones and I laid them in the corner, because that’s what we do. Stones are everlasting.”

After the ceremony, she placed stones by the nearby flagpole as well.

“She’s a woman,” Schanzer said. “She’s a woman with children. She was the premier jurist. She’s Jewish. And she deserves respect. Now we’re going to continue her fight.”

Part of the fight is to prevent a Supreme Court nominee by President Trump before the election is decided.

Voting in the upcoming election, encouraging friends and family to vote and joining social justice groups like Indivisible Nassau County, Nassau Now, Together We Will – Long Island and Women’s Diversity Network, which were among the organizations to host the Sunday demonstration, are just some of the strategies activists are using in the fight to prevent a third Supreme Court justice nominated by Trump.

Jaime Jordan, a Rockville Centre resident with Nassau County Indivisible, called on demonstration attendees to call, tweet and email U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer to ask him to unite the Senate in blocking a nominee.

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg is obviously a legend, and we have to honor her dying wish,” Jordan said. “We cannot give the president a chance to install another Supreme Court justice who will likely decide the outcome of the election and ultimately the future of democracy.”

She added that she has Schumer’s contacts saved on her phone. “We need him to unify his caucus and just say no to this nominee,” Jordan said.

She told the crowd that she could have been home helping prepare Sunday dinner, but came to fight for an America that she believes would be better for her children.

Holly Simon, 13, of Port Washington, was also there to work toward a better future, she said. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg was famous for her dissents,” she said. “I’m a girl, and I’m told that I just have to put up with the way things are, and I’m not going to anymore.”

Holly said she will not accept a future in which people cannot breathe because of climate change or have an abortion in a country where one in six women have experienced a rape or rape attempt, according to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network.

“I’m here because Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a real inspiration to me and to so many people I know,” Holly said. “She was a blessing, and I’m so glad we have her. We’re all here because we need to continue her fight.”

Katie Hangley, Holly’s mother, said she was proud to raise a thoughtful girl. “She knows what’s going on in the world and she’s going to speak up about it.”