THE NOTORIOUS RBG
DESPITE HER POOR HEALTH, 85-YEAR-OLD SUPREME COURT JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG HAS VOWED NOT TO RETIRE FROM THE COURT UNTIL 2021 IN THE HOPE THAT DONALD TRUMP WILL BE OUT OF OFFICE
Liberal US citizens panicked last week when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg entered hospital for surgery to remove two cancerous growths on her left lung. Her fans cheered when she voted from hospital against Donald Trump’s efforts to stop migrants from seeking asylum in the US. During her more than 25 years on the court, she has not missed arguments on a case. Admirers cheer her for battling cancer as well as Trumpism.
Her supporters grew concerned in November when doctors discovered the cancers while she was receiving treatment for three cracked ribs she suffered during in a fall at her chambers in the court in Washington, DC.
Ginsburg, 85 and the oldest member of the court, is determined to survive and serve until 2021 to prevent the erratic, self-serving, and ignorant Trump from appointing a reactionary replacement if she retires or dies. If Ginsburg were no longer on the bench, Trump would name a third justice, giving conservatives a majority of six to three on the court and enabling them to rule against progressive legislation adopted over the past half century.
Trump has already boosted this camp by adding Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The latter is seen as not only a hardliner on key issues but also unworthy to sit on the court. He has been accused of sexual misconduct as a young man, of being involved in a politically motivated legal investigation into the business dealings of former President Bill Clinton, and disrespecting the US Senate during his confirmation hearings.
For liberals and progressives, Ginsburg, known affectionately as “RBG,” has become an icon.
Her status has been enhanced by a series of books, films, coffee mugs, T-shirts, and rap performances.
She has achieved this distinction by adopting principled positions and standing firm on her judgements whether popular or unpopular. In addition to supporting women’s rights and opposing discrimination, she has criticised seizure and body searches of minors accused of criminal activity, demanded police accountability for misconduct and declared her opposition to the death penalty. This set her apart from the US drift right-wards and the rise of Trumpism.
The latest film biopic, entitled On the Basis of Sex, was released in US cinemas last Tuesday, Christmas day. The film, a Hollywood drama is about Ginsburg’s struggles to overcome prejudice against women who choose to study and practice law. Her battles beganat Harvard law school at a time few women took up the legal profession. She was subjected to discrimination and asked why she and the other eight female students in her class were taking places at university which should have been filled by men.
She and her student husband Martin had a toddler so the couple shared looking after the child while studying until Martin fell ill, leaving her to care for both him and the baby. After he was employed by a leading law firm in New York, she shifted to Columbia University. When she graduated, first in her class and a member of both Harvard and Columbia law reviews, she could not find a job in a legal office because she is a woman.