COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER BROOKE PINTO THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING 1350 PENNSLYVANIA AVENUE, N.W., SUITE 106 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004

January 14, 2021

Nyasha Smith, Secretary Council of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20004

Dear Secretary Smith,

Today, along with Chairman Phil Mendelson and Councilmembers Anita Bonds, Elissa Silverman, Christina Henderson, Brianne K. Nadeau, Mary M. Cheh, Janeese Lewis George, Charles Allen, Vincent C. Gray, Trayon White, Sr., Robert C. White, Jr., and Kenyan R. McDuffie, I am introducing the “Ruth Bader Ginsburg Way Designation Act of 2021.” Please find enclosed a signed copy of the legislation.

This legislation would symbolically designate Virginia Avenue N.W., between Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway N.W. and New Hampshire Avenue N.W., in Ward 2, as “Ruth Bader Ginsburg Way”, and would also allow a public space in the District to be named in honor of a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States who has been deceased less than 2 years. Virginia Avenue N.W. was chosen for the designation as Associate Justice Ginsburg’s home was in the Watergate complex on that portion of Virginia Avenue N.W.

Associate Justice Ginsburg received her B.A. from Cornell University, attended Harvard Law School, and received her LL.B. from Columbia Law School. She served as a law clerk at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and then worked at the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure. She was a Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law and later at Columbia Law School. She was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California. She co-founded the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union and argued over 300 gender discrimination cases and 6 cases before the Supreme Court.

Associate Justice Ginsburg was appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980. President Clinton nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, taking her seat August 10, 1993, thereby becoming the second female justice of the Court. Justice Ginsburg passed away on September 18, 2020. This designation will honor her long history of contributions to equality and to our country.

Finally, currently, D.C. Official Code § 9-204.05 does not permit a public space in the District to be named in honor of any living person or in honor of any person who has been deceased less than 2 years, unless the deceased person was a President or Vice President of the United States, a United States Senator or Representative, a Mayor of the District of Columbia, or a member of the Council of the District of Columbia. Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States should be added to this honored category.

Should you have any questions about this legislation, please contact my Legislative Director, Barry Weise, at [email protected]. Thank you,

Brooke Pinto

______Chairman Phil Mendelson Councilmember Brooke Pinto

______Councilmember Elissa Silverman Councilmember Anita Bonds

______Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau Councilmember Christina Henderson

______Councilmember Janeese Lewis George Councilmember Mary M. Cheh

______Councilmember Vincent C. Gray Councilmember Charles Allen

______Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. Councilmember Trayon White, Sr.

______Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie

1 A BILL 2 3 _____ 4 5 6 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 7 8 ______9 10 To symbolically designate Virginia Avenue N.W., between Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway 11 N.W. and New Hampshire Avenue N.W., in Ward 2, as Ruth Bader Ginsburg Way, and 12 to allow a public space in the District to be named in honor of a justice of the Supreme 13 Court of the United States who has been deceased less than 2 years.

14 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

15 act may be cited as the “Ruth Bader Ginsburg Way Designation Act of 2021”. 16 Sec. 2. The Street and Alley Closing and Acquisition Procedures Act of 1982, effective

17 March 10, 1983 (D.C. Law 4-201; D.C. Official Code § 9-201.01 et seq.), is amended as follows:

18 (a) Pursuant to sections 401, 403a, and 423 (D.C. Official Code §§ 9-204.01, 9-204.03a,

19 and 9-204.23) the Council symbolically designates Virginia Avenue N.W., between Rock Creek

20 and Potomac Parkway N.W. and New Hampshire Avenue N.W., in Ward 2, as “Ruth Bader

21 Ginsburg Way”.

22 (b) Section 405 (D.C. Official Code § 9-204.05) is amended by striking the phase

23 “President or Vice President of the United States, a United States Senator or Representative, a

24 Mayor of the District of Columbia, or a member of the Council of the District of Columbia” and

25 inserting the phrase “President or Vice President of the United States, a justice of the Supreme

26 Court of the United States, a United States Senator or Representative, a Mayor of the District of

27 Columbia, or a member of the Council of the District of Columbia” in its place.

28 Sec. 3. Applicability.

29 This act shall apply as of September 18, 2020.

30 Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement.

31 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal

32 impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975,

33 approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a).

34 Sec. 5. Effective date.

35 This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the

36 Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as

37 provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December

38 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of

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39 Columbia Register.

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