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A prominent liberal Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has died. The 87-year-old woman died with her family on Friday as a result of cancer, the court said. “Our nation has lost an attorney of historic stature,” said Chief Justice John Roberts.
Even the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has recognized the late American Constitutional Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the “titan of the law.” His landmark decisions would have inspired all American citizens, Trump said Friday night.
“Our nation cries today for a titan of justice,” the president’s statement said. Ginsburg is famous for “her brilliant thinking and powerful contradictions on the Supreme Court.” “Her judgments, including her well-known decisions on equality between women and the disabled, have inspired all Americans and generations of lawyers.”
Ginsburg was named a Supreme Court Justice by then-US President Bill Clinton in 1993 and was extremely popular on the liberal American spectrum, not least for her commitment to women’s rights. The decision on her successor is likely to become a major issue in the presidential campaign. In the college of nine judges, conservative forces already have a preponderance, which could now be further expanded if a conservative successor to Ginsburg is appointed.
Republican Senate: Ready for an Instant Vote
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said that the Senate will not refuse to vote on a candidate proposed by Trump despite the upcoming presidential election. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, however, asked that the nomination wait until after the election.
Under the United States Constitution, the President appoints justices to the United States Supreme Court, but the Senate must approve the proposal. A vote just before an election would be extremely rare.
“The voters must decide on the president, and the president must propose a judge to the Senate,” Biden urged reporters on Friday. “That was the position that the Republicans took in the Senate in 2016, when the elections were still almost ten months away. And that is the position that the Senate should take today.”
McConnell refused in February 2016 to put to a vote the successor proposed by then-President Barack Obama to the late Conservative Justice Anthony Scalia. He justified it by the fact that the election, which took place 250 days later, was too early.
According to a report by broadcaster NPR, Ginsberg himself had expressed hope shortly before his death that his successor would only be determined after the elections. A few days before his death, he dictated his “last will” to his granddaughter Clara Spera: “My greatest wish is that they do not replace me until a new president has been appointed.”
“Judge Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me,” former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter.
A specific proposal for the successor was not initially known. Trump published a list of 20 potential candidates a few days ago. Many experts expect him to name a woman, possibly conservative federal appeals judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Already conservative majority
The appointment of constitutional judges is a highly political process in the United States. The nine life judges are openly assigned to political wings. Until Ginsburg’s death, five of them were considered conservatives. Two of them were nominated by Trump: Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. One candidate must be approved by the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow majority. If they manage to get past a relatively young candidate again – Gorsuch is 53 today, Kavanaugh 55 – that could lead to a solid six to three-vote conservative majority on the Supreme Court for decades to come.
In Vienna, Democrats Abroad will hold a candle in honor of Ginsberg on Saturday, September 19, from 6 to 7 pm near the US embassy (corner of Bolzmanngasse and Strudelhofgasse) (apa, dpa)
