Why the death of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg has generated so much tension

By Emilio Doménech

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was, is, and will be one of the most important voices in the fight for women's rights and gender equality in America (and the world).

Bill Clinton nominated her to the position in 1993 and since then she has been one of the court's most progressive judges

, being indispensable in cases such as the approval of marriage between same-sex couples in 2015.

President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton following the nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Supreme Court Justice.REUTERS

"It was a voice that was able to observe that there are many barriers to achieving true equality, something that became more and more evident as women and men tried to occupy professional and influence positions in a more equal way," says Gillian Lester, dean of Columbia University School of Law.

Lester also believes that Bader Gisnburg became so prominent because of her personal story: "Her story as a likely fighting loser has immense appeal as a narrative about the possibilities of the individual and social change."

• Why has his death generated so much tension?

The death of Bader Ginsburg opens the possibility that Donald Trump nominates a new conservative justice for the Supreme Court before the elections are held on November 3.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Getty Images

At this time, the court has five conservative judges and three progressives.

Being a life term, a new conservative judge could tip the court's balance on that ideological side for at least two decades, maybe longer.

• And what does a conservative majority on the Supreme Court imply?

It is still difficult to know without knowing the name of Trump's nominee, but a conservative majority would put at risk, among other things, the legalization of abortion throughout the country as achieved with the Roe v.

Wade that the Supreme took in 1973.

Tension grows over the vacancy of Judge Ginsburg and Trump insists on "filling that place"

Sept.

20, 202002: 24

"A person who is elected within such a partisan, polarized climate, it is most likely that he will not respect that judicial precedent and that

says Pablo Rueda-Saiz, associate professor at the University of Miami School of Law.

• How is the process to confirm a new judge?

The US Constitution says that a president must nominate a candidate and the Senate must advise and confirm it.

Since Republicans are in control of the Senate, Trump could nominate a judge in the next few days, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could present that nomination to vote in front of the other senators before the election.

The Democrats could do nothing to stop it.

Trump and McConnell have already said they are willing to carry out that process in the coming weeks.

They perform posthumous tributes to Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg in different cities of the United States.

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21, 202001: 12

• Is there a favorite?

Yes, Judge Amy Coney Barrett has been ringing for years to be one of Trump's Supreme Court nominees.

Her conservative record, her gender and her age of 48 make her an ideal choice for Republicans who dream of a consistently conservative Supreme Court.

"She comes from the tradition of originalism, of textualism," says Rueda-Saiz.

“The originalism is based on the fact that the positions of the founding fathers of this country must be respected and that

That position is completely contrary to the position of the living Constitution.

The living Constitution says that the Constitution should serve us today, that we have to interpret it from what we have today.

The name of Barbara Lagoa, Cuban-American federal appeals judge, has also come up.

This is Barbara Lagoa, a possible Trump candidate to replace Judge Ginsburg on the Court

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22, 202002: 03

• Didn't Republicans say in 2016 that Supreme Court justices should not be confirmed in election year?

Yes, but this year they do not think the same.

In 2016, the death of Justice Antonin Scalia opened a vacancy in the Supreme Court that Barack Obama wanted to fill with the nomination of Justice Merrick Garland, but

and it should be the voters who decide which president would choose the next judge of the court.

With Trump's victory in 2016, the current president was able to fill Scalia's vacancy with Judge Neil Gorsuch.

Now, McConnell assures that the situation is different because the Republicans control both the Senate and the White House, a different situation from 2016 when the parties divided control of both bodies of Government.

For this new stance, Democrats have accused Republicans of hypocrites.

[Tension grows over the vacancy of Judge Ginsburg and Trump insists on "filling that place

• And are all Republicans content with not being true to their 2016 word?

As the Conservative party has a majority of 53 Republican senators against 47 Democrats, it would have taken four Republican senators against confirming a new judge before the election to spoil McConnell's plans, but the support of Senators Mitt Romney and Cory Gardner's election to the late Judge Ginsburg's replacement before the election guarantees the majority necessary for a historic vote. 

The tributes to Judge Ginsburg after the news of her death continued this Saturday, outside the Supreme Court.

REUTERS

Two Republican senators who have already said they will not vote to confirm a judge before November 3: Sen.

Susan Collins (R-Maine);

and Sen.

Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). 

• What are the electoral implications of Bader Ginsburg's death?

"I think it means that the court is going to be at the center of the 2020 elections," says Lester.

"The politicization of the court in recent years means that all eyes will be on the Supreme Court."

The first polls done since Bader Ginsburg's death suggest that a majority of voters believe Trump should wait for the election result before making a nomination.

According to a Reuters / Ipsos report made this weekend,

.

Five out of 10 Republicans think the same.

And according to another YouGov poll, 51% of those polled believe that Trump should wait for the presidential inauguration in January 2021 before making any nominations.

People gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court, after learning of the death of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on September 18, 2020. EFE

• So does it benefit Democrats if Trump and McConnell want to confirm someone before the election?

There are some indications that they do.

Democratic online contribution platform ActBlue broke several fundraising records this weekend, raising more than $ 70 million for party causes on Saturday.

The money can be very useful for Senate candidates whose victories in November could mean that Democrats regain control of the Upper House.

[Voters for Biden and Trump believe that the death of Judge Ginsburg will change the election result.

But who benefits?]