Ruth Bader Ginsburg dead at age 87
In this July 31, 2014, file photo, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in her chambers in at the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court says Ginsburg has died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in her Washington home last night, Sept. 18. Ginsburg was 87.
Ginsburg’s Death
Last night, Ginsburg succumbed to pancreatic cancer complications — throughout the final two decades of her life, Ginsburg survived three significant cancer cases.
Ginsburg was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999 and revealed her initial diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in February 2009 — a mere two weeks following former President Barack Obama’s first inauguration.
In a July 2019 interview, Ginsburg recalled a statement from former Republican Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, who stated in 2009 Ginsburg had “…bad cancer. The kind you don’t get better from.”
People gather at the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington after the Supreme Court announced that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“There was a senator; I think it was after my pancreatic cancer, who announced with great glee that I was going to be dead within six months,” Ginsburg said. “That senator, whose name I have forgotten, is now himself dead, and I am very much alive.”
Bunning died at age 85 in May 2017, due to complications of a stroke he suffered in 2016.
In December of 2018, Ginsburg underwent surgery for a case of early-stage lung cancer, which was detected following an accident where Ginsburg fell, fracturing three of her ribs on Nov. 7, 2018.
In August 2019, Ginsburg revealed she had completed three weeks of radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor found on her pancreas in July 2018.
Ginsburg was cancer-free by January 2020 but was once again treated for cancer by May.
“I have often said I would remain a member of the Court for as long as I can do the job full steam,” Ginsburg stated in July. “I remain fully able to do that.”
Ginsburg’s Achievements
In 1956, Ginsburg enrolled at Harvard Law School, where her class “included just nine women, up from five in the then second-year class, and only one African American,” according to a 2004 article for the Harvard Women’s Law Journal written by Ginsburg herself.
Ginsburg would later transfer to Columbia Law School, where she earned her law degree in 1959.
In 1970, Ginsburg founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first U.S. law journal to focus exclusively on women’s rights.
Prompted by her own experiences, Ginsburg co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union in 1972.
Ginsburg served in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit beginning on June 18, 1980, after being nominated by former President Jimmy Carter.
Former President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court on June 14, 1993, filling the seat vacated by the John F. Kennedy-nominated Justice Byron White, who retired on June 28, 1993.
Ginsburg’s nomination to the Supreme Court was confirmed by a vote of 96-3, in a majority that has not been equaled or surpassed by any nominated justice since.
In this Feb. 6, 2017 file photo, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif. The Supreme Court says Ginsburg has died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
Ginsburg was the second woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, following the Reagan-appointed Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Ginsburg was the first Jewish justice since 1969 and would go on to become the longest-serving Jewish justice on the Supreme Court.
In 1996, Ginsburg authored the court’s 7-1 opinion on the United States v. Virginia, where she stated the government “must not rely on an overbroad generalization about the different talents, capacities or references of males and females.”
Ginsburg further supported the opinion that the government requires an “exceedingly persuasive justification” to use any classification based on one’s sex.
A summarized list of Ginsburg’s life and tenure as a Supreme Court Justice can be found at Ballotpedia.
Ginsburg’s Will
During her tenure on the Supreme Court, Ginsburg outspokenly opposed proposals involving the expansion of the Supreme Court if a Democratic presidential candidate won the 2020 election.
Ginsburg noted she disagreed with former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1936 proposed bill that would have expanded the Supreme Court by up to six additional justices.
“Nine seems to be a good number. It’s been that way for a long time,” Ginsburg said in a July 2019 interview. “I think it was a bad idea when [FDR] tried to pack the court.”
Article III of the U.S. Constitution establishes the judicial branch and provides no guidelines on how many justices may serve the Supreme Court.
Initially, the Supreme Court consisted of six justices, established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Court was at its largest size at ten justices in 1863 before being reduced to nine justices in 1896, which has been the status quo in the following 157 years.
Ginsburg also supported the independence of the judiciary.
“We are blessed in the way no other judiciary in the world is,” Ginsburg said in July 2019. “We have life tenure. The only way to get rid of a federal judge is by impeachment. Congress can’t retaliate by reducing our salary, so the safeguards by judicial independence in this country, I think, are as great or greater than anyplace else in the world.”
Ginsburg’s dictated a final statement from her deathbed to her granddaughter, Clara Spara.
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Ginsburg said.
The Future of the Supreme Court
Ginsburg’s death leaves a vacancy on the Supreme Court. This is the first vacancy since former Justice Anthony Kennedy retired in July 2018.
Kennedy’s seat was later filled by Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Oct. 6, 2018, following a series of controversial confirmation hearings involving alleged sexual assault.
Ginsburg’s death presents President Donald Trump a third opportunity to nominate a justice to the Supreme Court.
In this Aug. 10, 1993, file photo, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes the court oath from Chief Justice William Rehnquist, right, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Ginsburg's husband Martin holds the Bible, and President Bill Clinton watches at left. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander, File)
Justice Neil Gorsuch was nominated by Trump on Jan. 31, 2017, and was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a party-line vote of 11-9. Gorsuch was later confirmed in a 54-45 Senate vote, with three Democrats joining the Republican majority.
The political fallout from Ginsburg’s death can mirror the string of events following the sudden death of former Justice Antonin Scalia, who was found dead Feb. 13, 2016 — resulting in a year-long controversy regarding Scalia’s replacement on the Supreme Court.
Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland on March 16, 2016 as Scalia’s replacement — a move which would have resulted in a majority of Democrat-appointed justices on the Supreme Court for the first time in over 50 years, since the resignation of former Justice Abe Fortas in 1969.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, lead by Republican Iowa Senator Charles Grassley at the time, did not schedule a hearing for Garland, resulting in Obama’s nomination expiring on Jan. 3, 2017.
Grassley, along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, cited a speech by former Vice President Joe Biden in his reasoning for blocking Obama’s nomination of Garland.
When a seat Biden, who was previously the Chairman of the Senate judiciary committee on June 25, 1992, stated that “The Senate Judiciary Committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until … after the political campaign season is over.”
McConnell would refer to Biden’s logic as the “Biden Rule” when explaining his reasoning to end Garland’s nomination.
“The Senate will continue to observe the Biden Rule so that the American people have a voice in this momentous decision,” McConnell said in a March 16, 2016 speech.
Following the death of Ginsburg, McConnell released a statement on her passing, concluding the statement with “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
McConnell has thus far made no mention of the Biden Rule following Ginsburg’s death and reasoned that the Republican control of the executive and legislative branches justified a vote on Ginsburg’s replacement.
“Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year. By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda,” McConnell stated. “Once again, we will keep our promise.”
The current Senate Judiciary Committee consists of ten Democratic Senators and 12 Republican Senators — a relevant fact given that Kavanaugh, the most-recently confirmed justice, was confirmed by the Committee along party lines.
A simple majority is needed for Senate confirmation of a justice confirmed by the Senate — during Kavanaugh’s confirmation. The Senate voted 50-48 for confirmation.
Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate nearly along party lines, though Democratic Senator Joe Manchin cast the sole vote of approval from his party.
Notably, Republican Senator Steve Danes was absent for Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote, while Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski voted “present.”
In doing so, Murkowski cancelled out her vote and Danes’, as the two Senators held opposing views on Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
Going forward, several Republican Senators have pre-emptively stated they would not vote to approve a Trump-nominated justice before the Nov. 3 election, including Murkowski.
“I would not vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee,” Murkowski said hours before Ginsburg’s death on Friday, “We are 50-some days away from an election, and the good news for us is that all of our Supreme Court justices are in good health and doing their job, and we pray that they are able to continue that.”
For now, it is uncertain how the vacancy left in the wake of Ginsburg’s death will be filled, but should the Senate vote along majority lines, the resulting Supreme Court will consist of three Democrat-appointed justices and six Republican-appointed justices.
