Ruth Bader Ginsburg increasingly speaking her mind

If seems that all the pressure on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire, so President Obama can nominate her replacement, has given her the freedom to speak candidly about positions taken by SCOTUS itself.

First, she has made it clear that she has no intention of retiring as long as she is able to do the work.   She counters the political argument by saying that the current Senate would filibuster anyone President Obama nominates to replace her who is as liberal as she is, so she might as well stay.

In an interview in the current issue of The New Republic, she discussed some of the recent court decisions that she disagreed with, including one which removed a part of the Affordable Care Act and another that gutted the Voting Rights Act.

But she reserved her strongest scorn for the Citizens United ruling, saying if she could over-rule only one decision, it would be that one.  She said:

"I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be. . . .  [The Court] should have respected the legislative judgment.  Legislators know much more about elections than the Court does. . . .  I think members of the legislature, people who have to run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed."

She further stated that, if Justice Sandra Day O'Connor had not retired so soon (note the implication for whether she herself should retire), O'Connor would have voted with the liberals on the Citizens United and the Voting Rights Act cases, as well as the Hobby Lobby case that allows exemptions for religious reasons in employer health care coverage.   Ginsburg said that the majority decisions in those three cases veered away from positions O'Connor had taken.

So the message seems to be:  when a justice retires, she is replaced by someone less liberal;  so better to stay as long as you're able to do the job.    This strong advocate for equal justice and rights deserves to stay as long as she is up to the task.   

We'll just have to elect Hillary Clinton to serve eight years (surely Ginsburg will be ready to retire within that time;  she would be 91 before Clinton finishes 8 years).  And we'll have to keep control of the Senate in Democratic hands.

Ralph