Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Friday, September 18th due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer, the court announced. She passed away in her Washington D.C. home and was surrounded by her family and loved ones. She was 87.
Ginsburg was nominated to the seat by President Bill Clinton in 1993, serving 27 years on the nation’s highest court, and becoming its most prominent member. In recent years she has served as the courts most senior member of the liberal wing. She has consistently delivered progressive votes on the most divisive social issues of the day, including same-sex marriage, abortion rights, voting rights, healthcare, and affirmative action.
“She led an amazing life. What else can you say?” President Donald Trump said. “She was an amazing woman whether you agree or not she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life.”
Her death now creates a vacancy for the next justice-elect, which now promises to be a nasty and turbulent political battle over who will succeed her, and now thrusts the empty seat into the presidential campaign.
However, Ginsburg told her granddaughter that her replacement must not be appointed until after the results of the presidential election, NPR reported. Just days before her death, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new President is installed.”
At the center of the battle to appoint a new justice, will be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. In 2016, he took a step unprecedented in modern times: He refused for nearly a year to allow any consideration of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. Addressing the liberal justice’s death, McConnell said Friday evening, “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
In a statement mourning Ginsburg, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden also called for Senate Republicans to uphold the standard they set in 2016 when they blocked then-President Barrack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
“But there is no doubt, let me be clear that the voters should pick the President and the President should pick the justice for the Senate to consider,” Biden said.
In recent years, Ginsburg grew a rock star level of notoriety, being dubbed the “Notorious R.B.G.” At speaking events throughout the nation before liberal audiences, she was greeted with standing ovations as she spoke about her view of the law, her infamous exercise routine and her fiery dissents. Ginsburg will go down in history as a champion of liberal and feminist ideals and has paved the way future generations will view the U.S Constitution and how their ideas can be heard.
