Brussels Reporter
  • Home
  • Brussels
  • Europe
    • Europe

      Protests, tear gas in Myanmar after UN envoy…

      March 6, 2021March 6, 2021

      Europe

      British citizens living abroad set to reclaim right…

      March 5, 2021March 6, 2021

      Europe

      Amazon directs customers to vaccine misinformation, study finds

      March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

      Europe

      US and EU suspend Airbus-Boeing tariffs for four…

      March 5, 2021

      Europe

      Dakar disorder after arrest of Senegal’s main opposition…

      March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

  • Globe
  • Lifestyle
  • Business

Brussels Reporter

  • Home
  • Brussels
  • Europe
    • Europe

      Protests, tear gas in Myanmar after UN envoy…

      March 6, 2021March 6, 2021

      Europe

      British citizens living abroad set to reclaim right…

      March 5, 2021March 6, 2021

      Europe

      Amazon directs customers to vaccine misinformation, study finds

      March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

      Europe

      US and EU suspend Airbus-Boeing tariffs for four…

      March 5, 2021

      Europe

      Dakar disorder after arrest of Senegal’s main opposition…

      March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

  • Globe
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
Home Globe Ruth Bader Ginsburg: US Supreme Court judge dies of cancer, aged 87
Globe

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: US Supreme Court judge dies of cancer, aged 87

by editor September 19, 2020
September 19, 2020

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionTrump is not a lawyer – Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks exclusively to the BBC

US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an iconic champion of women’s rights, has died of cancer at the age of 87, the court has said.

Ginsburg died on Friday of metastatic pancreatic cancer at her home in Washington, DC, surrounded by her family, the statement said.

Earlier this year, Ginsburg said she was undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer.

She was a prominent feminist who became a figurehead for liberals in the US.

Ginsburg was the oldest sitting justice on the Supreme Court, having served 27 years on the nation’s highest court.

As one of four liberal justices on the court, her health was watched closely. Ginsburg’s death raises the prospect of US President Donald Trump trying to expand its slender conservative majority.

“Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement on Friday. “We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her – a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”

Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a passionate champion of women’s rights, was the oldest judge on the US Supreme Court

Ginsberg had suffered from five bouts of cancer, with the most recent recurrence in early 2020. She had received hospital treatment a number of times in recent years, but returned swiftly to work on each occasion.

In a statement in July, the judge said her treatment for cancer had yielded “positive results”, insisting she would not retire from her role.

“I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam,” she said. “I remain fully able to do that.”

Why was Ginsburg important?

US Supreme Court justices serve for life or until they choose to retire, and supporters had expressed concern that a more conservative justice could succeed Ginsburg.

The highest court in the US is often the final word on highly contentious laws, disputes between states and the federal government, and final appeals to stay executions.

In recent years, the court has expanded gay marriage to all 50 states, allowed for President Trump’s travel ban to be put in place and delayed a US plan to cut carbon emissions while appeals went forward.

Ginsberg’s death will spark a political battle over who will succeed her, spurring debate about the future of the Supreme Court ahead of November’s presidential election.

US President Donald Trump has appointed two judges since taking office, and the current court is seen to have a 5-4 conservative majority in most cases.

The US Senate has to approve a new judge nominated by the president, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday evening that if a nominee was put forward before the election, there would be a vote on Donald Trump’s choice.

But in the days before her death, Ginsburg expressed her strong disapproval of such a move, National Public Radio reports.

“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” she wrote in a statement to her granddaughter.

A high-stakes political fight looms

Ginsburg’s death injects a level of unpredictability into a presidential race that had been remarkably stable for months. Now, not only will the White House be at stake in November, but the ideological balance of the Supreme Court could be, as well.

It all depends on what President Trump and the Republicans choose to do next. They could try to fill the seat before the end of the year regardless of who wins the presidency in November, replacing a liberal icon with what in all likelihood will be a reliable conservative vote. Or they could wait and hold the seat vacant, a prize to encourage conservative voters – particularly evangelicals who see an opportunity to roll back abortion rights – to flock to the polls for the president.

Filling the seat would outrage Democrats, who will note that Republicans denied former President Barack Obama the chance to fill the vacant seat in 2016 for months. Waiting, on the other hand, would risk letting Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden name Ginsburg’s replacement in 2021.

All signs point to Republicans trying the former. Concerns of hypocrisy will melt away when a lifetime appointment to the court is in play.

Either way, it sets up a brutal, high-stakes political fight that comes at a time when the nation is already rife with partisan discord and psychological distress.

What is Ginsburg’s legacy?

Over an illustrious legal career spanning six decades, Ginsberg attained unparalleled celebrity status for a jurist in the US, revered by liberals and conservatives alike.

Liberal Americans in particular idolised her for her progressive votes on the most divisive social issues that were referred to the Supreme Court, from abortion rights to same-sex marriages.

Born to Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1933, Ginsberg studied at Harvard Law School, where she was one of only nine women in a class of about 500 men.

Ginsburg did not receive a single job offer after graduation, despite finishing top of her class. But Ginsberg persisted, working in various jobs in the legal profession throughout the 1960s and far beyond.

In 1972, Ginsburg co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). That same year, Ginsburg became the first tenured female professor at Columbia Law School.

In 1980, Ginsburg was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as part of former President Jimmy Carter’s efforts to diversify federal courts. Though Ginsburg was often portrayed as a liberal firebrand, her days on the appeals court were marked by moderation.

Image copyright
Jeffrey Markowitz/Getty Images

Image caption

Ginsburg at her Senate confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court post in 1993

Ginsberg was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, becoming only the second of four female justices to be confirmed to the court.

Toward the end of her life, Ginsburg became a national icon. Due in part to her withering dissents, Ginsberg was dubbed the Notorious RBG by her army of fans online – a nod to the late rapper The Notorious BIG.

That comparison introduced Ginsburg to a new generation of young feminists, turning her into a cult figure.

Source link

previous post
US set to ban WeChat and TikTok from app stores
next post
Yasukuni Shrine: Japan’s ex-PM Abe visits controversial memorial

Related Posts

India’s Kumbh Mela festival begins amid Covid concerns

January 14, 2021

Coronavirus: Where are global cases rising and falling?

June 29, 2020

Biden leaves Republicans behind to fast track $1.9tn...

February 6, 2021

Moria migrants: Fire destroys Greece’s camp on Lesbos

September 9, 2020

Smart cities: Joining the data boom

January 18, 2019

Donald Trump fires defence secretary Mark Esper

November 9, 2020

US Election 2020: Biden ahead in Pennsylvania and...

November 6, 2020

France police shootings: Three officers killed by gunman...

December 23, 2020

Covid: Italy brings in sweeping new coronavirus measures

October 26, 2020

Tour de France 2020: Julian Alaphilippe wins stage...

August 30, 2020
Promotion Image

Recent Posts

  • Protests, tear gas in Myanmar after UN envoy urges action
  • Pope Francis meets powerful Shia cleric in Iraq
  • Amanpour: Harry and Megan Oprah interview ‘won’t be an easy ride’
  • British citizens living abroad set to reclaim right to vote in UK elections
  • Amazon directs customers to vaccine misinformation, study finds
Promotion Image

GO!

Lifestyle

  • Scientists are using satellites to count elephants from space for the first time

  • France: Hospital workers demand more resources to fight COVID-19

  • Alexei Navalny: Millions watch jailed critic's 'Putin palace' film

  • Covid vaccine: WHO warns of ‘catastrophic moral failure’

  • Belgium looks good in white

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Post-Brexit talks: A chink of light at the end of the UK-EU trade tunnel?

    July 27, 2020
  • 2

    San Diego Zoo gives experimental COVID-19 vaccine to 9 great apes

    March 5, 2021
  • 3

    How much did the European institutions and parties pay for ads on Facebook?

    June 18, 2019

Editor’s Choices

  • European Parliament will set up vaccination centers for MEPs, staff and locals

    January 21, 2021
  • Why ‘equal access’ to coronavirus vaccines is failing poor countries

    January 20, 2021
  • Merkel era may only just be beginning

    January 16, 2021

Opinions

  • Picnic time! Belgium begins easing coronavirus restrictions

    March 5, 2021
  • US and EU suspend Airbus-Boeing tariffs for four months

    March 5, 2021
  • UK’s new Brexit man makes his mark with Northern Ireland row

    March 4, 2021

@2018-2021 - Brussels Reporter (www.brusselsreporter.com). All Right Reserved.