Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a longtime women’s rights advocate 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.
Her death just over six weeks before Election Day is likely to set off a heated battle over whether President Donald Trump should nominate, and the Republican-led Senate should confirm, her replacement, or if the seat should remain vacant until the outcome of his race against Democrat Joe Biden is known. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said late Friday that the Senate will vote on Trump’s pick to replace Ginsburg, even though it’s an election year.
Ginsburg spent her final years on the bench as the unquestioned leader of the court’s liberal wing, with young women seemingly embracing the court’s Jewish grandmother, affectionately calling her the “Notorious RBG”, for her defense of the rights of women and minorities, and the strength and resilience she displayed in the face of personal loss and health crises.
Chief Justice John Roberts mourned Ginsburg’s passing, saying, “Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”
