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- The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will allow US President Donald Trump to nominate a third jurist to the Supreme Court.
- US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday at the age of 87 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
- Earlier this month, the president of the United States announced a list of 20 potential contenders that he would turn to if a vacancy arose on the nine-judge court.
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday will allow US President Donald Trump to nominate a third jurist to the Supreme Court and generate support among conservative voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Trump earlier this month announced a list of 20 potential contenders he would turn to if a vacancy arose on the nine-judge court.
The list included Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, as well as many justices Trump has already appointed to the lower federal courts.
Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
AFP
Cruz quickly objected as Cotton embraced the idea of being a potential successor.
Also on the list were Noel Francisco, who until recently served as the Trump administration’s top Supreme Court attorney; Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron; and Paul Clement, the top Supreme Court attorney under former Republican President George W. Bush and now one of the most prominent private lawyers arguing cases before justices.
Noel Francisco, former lead attorney for the Trump Administration Supreme Court. Daniel Cameron, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. And Paul Clement, former Supreme Court attorney.
AFP
The list – names added to another list he published earlier in his presidency – brought to 44 the number of different possible nominees Trump has said he would consider. Another prominent name on the list above includes Chicago-based seventh judge Amy Coney. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
An additional vacancy could allow Trump to move the court further to the right.
The two people previously appointed by Trump to the Supreme Court were Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
If Trump can name a successor, the court would have a solid 6-3 conservative majority.
Supreme Court justices, who receive life appointments, play an enormous role in shaping American policy on hot topics such as abortion, LGBT rights, gun rights, religious freedom, the death penalty and presidential powers.
That could lead to changes long sought by conservatives, such as overturning the landmark 1973 court ruling that legalized abortion across the country. The court could also play a pivotal role in deciding a dispute over the 2020 elections, just as it did in the landmark 2000 case of Bush v. Gore.
