On the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg: America’s justice icon

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Heroine of Liberal America: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Photo: JIM YOUNG / REUTERS

She had foreseen what was to come in the country: "My ardent wish is that my judge's position will only be filled when a new president is sworn in."

Ruth Bader Ginsburg dictated this to her granddaughter Clara Spera in the block just a few days ago.

Now what has happened is what is a nightmare for the Democratic Party and many civil rights activists in the USA: Ginsburg, icon of the US women's movement and a judge at the US Supreme Court for 27 years, died while Donald Trump was in office.

She succumbed to cancer on Friday at the age of 87.

The consequences for the country and the presidential election campaign can hardly be overestimated: With the death of Ginsburg, President Trump has the chance to shape the highest American court for decades to come.

Since his election in November 2016, Trump has appointed two conservative judges.

At the end of January 2017, he nominated Neil Gorsuch, who was only able to become a judge because the Republicans in the US Senate had reserved the position of the late Judge Antonin Scalia for months and had refused to confirm Merrick Garland, who was nominated by the outgoing Democratic President Barack Obama would have.

A year and a half later, Brett Kavanaugh moved up to the Supreme Court - despite the fact that psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified during the hearings in the US Senate that Kavanaugh sexually abused her as a teenager.

Justices at the Supreme Court are appointed for life, which is why presidents can use their nominations to shape the direction of the country far beyond their own term of office.

Should Trump manage to fill Ginsburg's post during his current term of office, the conservative side would have a comfortable majority of 6 to 3 votes.

The Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden therefore urges that the newly sworn president should propose a successor.

But that will probably remain a pious wish.

Mitch McConnell, majority leader of the Republicans in the US Senate, made it clear on Saturday night that his people would vote on a possible proposal from the president.

The consequences for the USA would be profound: It would mean that the conservative camp will prevail at the court in the future even if individual judges take the liberal side.

Trump has repeatedly praised it as one of his central services that he has filled federal courts with conservative lawyers.

The disappointment in the White House was all the greater when the Supreme Court made decisions in the past few months with which the Democrats were extremely satisfied: Judge Gorsuch voted for a ruling that prohibits discrimination against homosexuals and trans people in the workplace.

In turn, Chief Justice John Roberts, who had come to court at the suggestion of President George W. Bush, helped ensure that a liberal immigration rule that had been enacted under Obama remained in force.

Many women in the US fear that once the Supreme Court is firmly in the hands of conservatives, the right to abortion may fall.

One of the most important but also most controversial decisions of the Supreme Court is Roe v.

Calf.

The 1973 ruling states that pregnant women have the right to choose an abortion for themselves.

But also in other areas - such as environmental protection or social welfare - regulations that Democrats have passed could overturn.

Leading liberal voice

Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York in March 1933, graduated from Columbia University with a law degree and later taught at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

In 1993, Ginsburg was nominated for the Supreme Court by Bill Clinton, the US Senate upheld it with an overwhelming majority of 96-3.

She quickly became the leading liberal voice in court.

In a 2009 interview with the New York Times, she said abortion was one of those fundamental issues that the state should not interfere with women's decisions.

Although Ginsburg was a heroine of liberal America, there have been critical voices in recent years - albeit mostly behind closed doors.

Many Democrats resented her for not having used Obama's years in office for a dignified retreat in order to give the Democratic President the opportunity to appoint a left-liberal successor in court.

Ginsburg suffered from cancer for more than 20 years, but insisted until the end that her health would allow her to continue the official business.

Ginsburg has made no secret of how little she thinks of Donald Trump.

In an interview, she called him a "swindler", even though she later admitted that the remark was rather unwise given her commitment to political neutrality.

Trump now has the opportunity to take revenge in his own way.

On Friday evening he found words of appreciation for the judge on the sidelines of an election campaign event: "She led a great life," said the President.

"Whether you agreed with her or not, it was a great life."

But Trump is enough of a politician to know what chance he now has in his hands.

His election campaign has been sluggish over the past few weeks.

The prospect of appointing a third Conservative judge to the Supreme Court could breathe new life into his campaign.

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