NPR

RBG Imparted This To Plaintiff In Gender Equality Case: 'It's All Right To Be A Hero'

Sharron Cohen was the plaintiff in a case that eventually fell to a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And Cohen says that years later, Ginsberg encouraged her to embrace her part in the landmark case.
Sharron Cohen (second from left) with her husband David Cohen, and son Nathan Cohen with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the steps of the Supreme Court building in 1999.

Sharron Frontiero was a young lieutenant in the Air Force when she first filed a lawsuit against the federal government on the basis of sex. It later came to the attention of a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who signed onto the case in 1972, setting up her first appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Frontiero, now Sharron Cohen, was the plaintiff, in which she sought a dependent's allowance for her husband. That same benefit is owed to wives of male members of the military according to federal law.

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