‘AN INSPIRATION TO ALL’
Yolo County officials react to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was felt across the U.S. on Friday — adding another tragedy to an already tumultuous 2020.
Ginsburg, a towering women’s rights champion who became the court’s second female justice, died Friday at her home in Washington. She was 87.
Ginsburg died of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the court said.
Several Yolo County officials paid tribute to Ginsburg on Saturday, including Presiding Judge Samuel T. McAdam.
“Justice Ginsburg was an inspiration to all judges for her dedication to the Constitution,” McAdam stated. “She understood the perfection of American ideals of justice, freedom and equality, while having a personal and heightened insight into the imperfections of American society. She worked every day to align our reality with those ideals. She did so with passion, smarts, persistence and collegiality. Here at Yolo Superior Court, we pledge to continue to follow her lead.”
Judge Sonia Cortés expressed her gratitude.
“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a great legal mind and a tireless champion for equal justice under the law,” Cortés stated. “I know that but for her pioneering and trailblazing legal career I would not have had the opportunity to currently hold my position as a superior court judge. I am eternally grateful to her for combatting inequality and injustice through her exemplary life and up until her very last days on earth. Her personal, legal and judicial career stand as a testament to her commitment in keeping true our nation’s founding promise of pursuing a more perfect union.”
Meanwhile, Judge David Rosenberg stated:
“In physical stature Justice Ginsburg was a small person, but she was certainly a giant in the law. She was a true ‘Mensch’ rendering justice with both her head and her heart. In many respects, a Justice of the United States Supreme Court serves in
the most powerful office in the land, and the issues addressed by the high court are among the most complex, challenging and divisive. The Justice served with adherence to the Constitution and as a vigorous defender of our Bill of Rights. I am very saddened by the passing of Justice Ginsburg, but comforted by the rich legacy she left behind.”
Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig also commented on her legacy.
“Our country has lost one its most significant leaders in history,” he stated. “Her lifelong commitment to equality and justice will never be forgotten.”
Yolo County Public Defender Tracie Olson saw Ginsburg as a role model.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a role model for so many women like myself,” Olson stated. “She was strong, smart, and unafraid. She urged lawyers to use their profession to do something that makes life a little better for those less fortunate, and everyday I try to live up to that ideal.”
Kevin R. Johnson, dean of the UC Davis School of Law, called Ginsburg “a national treasure.”
“She devoted her life to the pursuit of justice and will be sorely missed,” he stated. “Justice Ginsburg’s legacy will no doubt be her pioneering work, her inspiration to generations, and powerful opinions.”
Ginsburg’s death has left the Supreme Court shorthanded during a polarizing presidential campaign in which President Donald Trump has already suggested he may not accept the outcome and the court could be called on to step in and decide the fate of the nation.
It’s the second time in four years that a justice has died during an election year, though that eight-justice court was not asked to referee any election disputes in 2016. Today, both sides have armies of lawyers ready to take the outcome to court.
The Supreme Court’s role, then, could be vital in deciding a contested election, as it was in 2000 when its 5-4 ruling effectively handed the presidential election to Republican George W. Bush.
Just moments after Ginsburg’s death the prospect of a disputed election and the role of the court in deciding it was already causing anxiety across the political spectrum.
But the makeup of the court is significantly different today from what it was after Justice Antonin Scalia died suddenly in February 2016.
Conservative, Republican-appointed justices hold five of the eight seats, including Chief Justice John Roberts, who is closest to the center of the court on many issues. Liberals appointed by Democrats have the other three.
In 2016, Scalia’s death left the court evenly divided between four conservatives and four liberals, and it took at least one justice to cross over, in essence, to form a majority on the court.
Any time the justices divide 4-4 in a case, the lower court ruling remains in place. If say, the court were to split that way in a case involving the election, the tie would ratify whatever the lower court decided.
Trump said Saturday he has an “obligation” to fill the seat “without delay,” and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is promising to give Trump’s nominee a prompt vote in the GOP-controlled chamber. Last time, the court was down one justice for more than a year, when McConnell and the Republicans refused to act on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.
“Justice Ginsburg’s legacy will no doubt be her pioneering work, her inspiration to generations, and powerful opinions.” —Kevin R. Johnson, dean of the UC Davis School of Law