With the U.S. Supreme Court beginning its October Term 2020 in the coming months, we conduct our 36th annual review of the performance of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit during the past term.

We have been writing these monthly columns for 35 years, beginning in 1986. For the past 28 years, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has served as the Circuit Justice for the Second Circuit; for more than a decade before that, Ruth Bader Ginsburg served with distinction on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Sept. 18, 2020, Justice Ginsburg lost her valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. Justice Ginsburg lived an extraordinary and incomparable life. She was a national treasure, having spent her entire professional life championing justice and equality under the law and inspiring generations of Americans of every race, creed, gender and ethnicity. Through her brilliance, creativity, perseverance and empathy, Justice Ginsburg made our country more just and our laws more equitable. She broke barrier after barrier for those without a voice and empowered the vulnerable and powerless. Justice Ginsburg was a pathbreaker, through and through. A cherished colleague and friend, Justice Ginsburg’s fellow Justices remembered her “wisdom,” “kindness,” “wit,” “integrity,” “valor,” and “honor.”