My Own Words

My Own Words is a 2016 book by American Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her biographers Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams. The book is a collection of Bader Ginsburg's speeches and writings dating back to the eighth grade. It was Bader Ginsburg's first book since becoming a Supreme Court Justice in 1993. Background In March 2016, Simon & Schuster announced My Own Words was slated to release in January 2017. The book was released early on October 4, 2016. Synopsis Bader Ginsburg writes the preface to the book, with Hartnett and Williams contextualizing "each part of the sections, which include law review articles, speeches, briefs and dissents." Many topics are covered in My Own Words, including Bader Ginsburg's life as a Jewish woman, gender equality, the Supreme Court, and interpreting the U.S. Constitution. One chapter consists of excerpts from Derrick Wang's opera Scalia/Ginsburg, with forewords by Ginsburg and Justice Antonin Scalia. One of the treatises in the book is the speech she gave when accepting the position of Supreme Court Justice. Another is a writing on why the United States needs the Equal Rights Amendment.