Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in one of her former clerk’s words, offered them “An unmatched mix of smarts, heart and, most of all, unbelievable toughness.”

The 87-year-old justice died from complications of metastatic pancreas cancer, the court said Friday. The justice had been treated in the past for lung, early-stage pancreatic and colon cancer. Cancerous lesions on her liver were found in February 2020, and she underwent chemotherapy beginning in May of that year.