Earlier this week, Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the first woman to lie in state at the US Capitol. A trailblazer even in death. A woman, who over the course of her long tenure on the Supreme Court, acquired the title ‘Notorious RBG’, Justice Ginsburg achieved rock star status in a profession often seen as boring.
In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was nominated to be an associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court by then President Bill Clinton. She would be only the second woman to sit on the highest court in the land, after Reagan appointee Sandra Day O’Connor. The Supreme Court nomination was the culmination of a lifetime spent fighting cases to protect the rights of women and other disadvantaged groups. Part of the pioneering generation of women who spearheaded the second wave of feminism from the 1960s to the 80s, RBG’s fight for equal application of taxes and deductions got immortalized in her biopic- On the basis of sex. She was also the subject of a documentary, proof of the cult-like status the boomer enjoyed among even millennials.
(source- history.com)
RBG was famous however, not only for her undeniable legal acumen, but also for her wit, bluntness and ability to get along with those on the opposite side of the political spectrum. RBG, a firm liberal, shared a deep and legendary friendship and camaraderie with the late fiery, conservative justice Antonin Scalia. Her personal life was of equal, if not greater, interest. She regularly spoke of the support she received from her late husband Marty, a lawyer himself. Her now famous tip for a successful marriage was- sometimes its better to be deaf.
Her death however, quickly devolved from a celebration of her life and achievements to a bitter partisan fight over who would take her place on the bench. The Republicans jumped at the chance to nominate their third justice in four years, solidifying their majority on the court for decades before an election that will almost definitely end up in the Supreme Court. The Democrats, however, were equally quick to point out that when Justice Scalia died in the last year of President’s Obama second term, the republicans in the Senate refused to grant his nominee Merrick Garland even a hearing on the grounds that the winner of the election should get to decide. The democrats are making the same argument now.
It appears unlikely that the Democrats, even with logic on their side, will succeed. Even though two Republican senators have refused to vote for President Trump’s nominee- Amy Coney Barrett, before the election, the Republicans with their 53-47 majority in the Senate still have the votes they need to confirm. They can afford to lose one more vote even, as a tie would make Vice-President Mike Pence, the tie-breaker in his ex-officio position as President of the Senate. A vote could take place not just before November 3rd (election day) but even after that- even if the Democrats flip both the White House and Senate- in a lame duck session called before the new congress takes oath.
A 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court- that confirmation of Trump’s nominee would ensure- could overturn Roe v. Wade, thereby denying a woman her right to choose and also strike down Obamacare. Democrats, on their part, however haven’t ruled out using the nuclear option- passing a Constitutional amendment to increase the number of judges on the Supreme Court if Joe Biden wins the Presidency. Such an increase would allow the Democrats to stack the Supreme Court with liberal judges but also set a dangerous precedent. If the Democrats do it in 2021, what stops the Republicans from doing it in 2025 or anytime later and then provoking a similar tit-for-tat response from the democrats leading to an unending cycle which would severely damage judicial autonomy in the world’s leading democracy.
What will happen in the days ahead seems, for now at least, distressing but predictable. Barring a political earthquake, never completely impossible, the United States is heading for a bitter, partisan fight that can exacerbate tensions in a country already starkly divided.
Written By: ANOUSHKA KOTHARI
