After RBG’s Passing, Americans Wonder About the Supreme Court's Future
By Manjot Kaur ('21)
On August 10, 1993, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg accepted President Bill Clinton’s nomination to join the Supreme Court, becoming the second female justice in America’s history. With this new position, she continued to fight for gender equality, as she did with the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union during the 1970's.
Throughout her time in the Supreme Court, RBG actively supported the fight for women’s rights. She argued that it is unconstitutional for public schools to bar women from receiving educations, was a trailblazer in passing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act which made it possible for women to open credit cards and apply for mortgages without a male signature, and helped women take steps towards equal pay in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Additionally, Ginsburg was the deciding vote in court to uphold Roe v. Wade and protect a woman’s right to choose. She also defended pregnant women in the workplace in Struck v. Secretary of Defense, and pushed for women to serve on juries in Duren v. Missouri. RBG didn't just advance rights for women, but rather advocated equality for everyone, as demonstrated in her vote in 2015 to legalize same-sex marriage in the US.
RBG died on September 18, 2020 at 87 years old due to cancer. While RBG was an inspiration to Americans, many citizens are now worried about losing the freedoms she fought so hard to protect. A recent article from The Guardian reports "Every big issue in American life is on the line - reproductive rights, voting rights, protections from discrimination, the future of criminal justice, the power of the presidency, the rights of immigrants, tax rules and laws, and healthcare for millions of vulnerable Americans." These issues are "on the line" because the current Justices lean towards conservative beliefs and RBG was a deciding vote in many cases that ended in favor of progressives.
Courtesy of the United States Supreme Court
Now that RBG has passed away, President Trump is looking to nominate Amy Coney Barrett, whose views generally run counter to RBG’s. According to the New York Times, Barrett’s appointment would give conservatives a 6 to 3 majority, ensuring Republican influence in the Supreme Court long after President Trump’s term. Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life, and Barrett is younger than many other Justices at just 48 years old. The New York Times writes “groups opposing abortion have championed Judge Barrett’s nomination,” as “her academic and judicial writings have been skeptical of broad interpretations of abortion rights.”
Barrett also supports the Second Amendment, even going as far as to support felons’ right to own guns. “History does not support the proposition that felons lose their Second Amendment rights solely because of their status as felons,” she wrote, “but it does support the proposition that the state can take the right to bear arms away from a category of people that it deems dangerous.” With Barrett in the Court, the Justices would be reviewing many more cases on the Second Amendment.
As a conservative Justice, Barrett would likely not support granting green cards, public assistance, food stamps, Section 8 housing vouchers, and Medicaid to immigrants in need. In her dissent against Cook County v. Wold, she argues that the term “public charge” is confusing and seems to vary from department to department.
Obama embraces Ginsburg during his State of the Union. - Getty Images
Before her death, RBG stated her “most fervent wish...not be replaced until a new president is installed.” Ginsburg has often clashed with President Trump, calling him a “faker with a big ego.” She also claimed the press seemed to go “gentle” on him about refusing to share his tax returns. Vice President Biden, the democratic nominee for president, and President Obama both agree that RBG should not be replaced until after Election Day. They point to 2016, when the Republican Senate blocked Merrick Garland’s nomination for Supreme Court Justice during Obama's second term, just eight months before Election Day.
In comparison, Trump nominated Barrett under two months from Election Day. Former President Barack Obama stated, “Four and a half years ago, when Republicans refused to hold a hearing or an up-or-down vote on Merrick Garland, they invented the principle that the Senate shouldn't fill an open seat on the Supreme Court before a new President was sworn in. A basic principle of the law - and of everyday fairness - is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on what's convenient or advantageous in the moment.”
Despite this precedent, Republicans in Congress are working to get Barrett into the Supreme Court before Election Day. The New York Times reported “Senate Republicans have vowed to confirm the president’s nominee with haste and are preparing to oversee a lightning-fast confirmation process that could put her on the bench before November 3rd.” The Washington Post goes further, saying Republicans are “pretending they don’t know how nominee Amy Coney Barrett will vote” to distract from her views on Roe V. Wade and the Affordable Care Act.
In the last four years, America has seen unpredictable events both at home and abroad from immigration reform, calls for reform in the criminal justice system, Covid-19 and more. If Barrett enters the Supreme Court, she would make history, as no other Justice has ever been confirmed so close to an election. However, she would also help Republicans create a lasting impact on American democracy.
Barrett accepting Supreme Court Nomination by President Trump. -AP