Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Supreme Court Justice and giant of the legal world, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died last Friday, September 18th. Ginsburg was well known for her key role in the legal fight for women’s rights in the 70’s and was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1993 by then President Bill Clinton. Ginsburg then proceeded to serve on the court with distinction for 27 years, becoming one of the Supreme Court’s most admired and recognizable members as well as becoming the leader of the left wing of the court. She had an undeniably outsized influence on the development of law in this country over the last several decades, and she will be well remembered through the decisions she made and the people she inspired.
The mourning and memorializing of Ginsburg is being rapidly overshadowed by the question of who is going to replace her and if she should even be replaced before the election on November 3rd. Members of Ginsburg’s family claim she stated her desire that her replacement not be selected until after the election on her death bed, just as Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court seat was held open by Senate Republicans for more than a year before President Trump nominated his replacement. This time around however, Senate Republicans, in particular Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, have vowed to approve and install a replacement for Ginsburg as soon as possible. President Trump has made public statements claiming that he plans to nominate a woman to replace Ginsburg and that his nomination will likely be made within the week. Many Democrats are arguing that the nomination should be withheld until after the election, which is only about six weeks away and will likely fight any nomination that the president puts forward. The timing of Ginsburg’s death has made an already contentious election even more so and shown yet another way that the election of November third will have long reaching consequences for the United States.
"Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Visits WFU" by WFULawSchool is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Joseph Doner - Staff Writer