SC’s first woman Supreme Court justice to speak at vigil for Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Members of South Carolina’s legal profession and community will gather on the steps of the state Supreme Court Thursday night to honor the life of trailblazing U.S. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday.
Former state Supreme Court chief justice Jean Toal, one of South Carolina’s own judicial trailblazers, will be among those speaking at the candlelight vigil.
Toal became the first woman to serve as a justice on South Carolina’s Supreme Court in 1988, then ascended to the position of chief justice in 2000. She stepped down in 2015 after reaching the mandatory retirement age for judges in the state.
Prior to her time at the Supreme Court, she also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives for 13 years representing Richland County. She was the first woman to chair a standing committee in the House.
Other speakers scheduled to speak Thursday include Columbia city councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine, president of the S.C. Women Lawyers Association Ayesha T. Washington, lawyer Vickie Eslinger and Rabbi Jonathan Case.
The event is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Attendees will have to wear masks and practice social distancing.
The death of Ginsburg, just the second woman to ever sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, has sparked an outpouring of tributes and memorials to her influence in the legal community, especially for the advancement of women.
The vigil is sponsored by the S.C. Women Lawyers Association, the Columbia City of Women, the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, the Nickelodeon Theater and the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network.
Three days of honors for Ginsburg began in Washington on Wednesday with a ceremony at the Supreme Court. Her coffin will be outside the courthouse through Thursday. She will lie in state at the Capitol on Friday.
