'I dissent'

There was only one story in the international news this weekend - the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman ever to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of the USA and a much-beloved liberal icon.

Born in 1933 to Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, Ginsburg often credited her inspiration as her mother - a mother who died the day before young Ruth left high school. After meeting her husband Marty Ginsburg at university, Ruth was one of nine women (out of a class of 500) accepted to Harvard Law School in 1956.

When Marty fell ill with cancer, however, Ginsburg took care of him and typed up his dissertation, while also raising their toddler and tending to her own studies, usually in the early hours of the morning.

These setbacks did not stop her coming top of her class - but she found herself unable to secure a single job offer on graduation - the first of her many encounters with blatant sexism in the workplace.

Ginsburg made her first successful appearance before the Supreme Court in 1971 in the historic Reed v Reed case, the first law to be struck down on the grounds of gender-based discrimination.

The following year, she co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the ACLUAmerican Civil Liberties Union, a non-profit organisation founded in 1920. It provides legal assistance in cases where it considers civil liberties to be at risk., launching a series of gender-discrimination cases between 1973 and 1978, while also becoming the first tenuredA contractual right that grants an instructor or professor at a higher education institution permanent employment, providing legal protection against summary dismissal without a just cause. It is increasingly being granted mainly to those who are exceptionally gifted and prolific in their fields. female professor at Columbia Law School. In one of her most significant early cases as a justice, Ginsburg co-authored the majority opinion that struck down the men-only admissions policy at the Virginia Military InstituteFounded in 1839, it is the oldest state-supported military college in the US..

Perhaps surprisingly for someone of her profession, Ginsburg not only enjoyed a high personal profile but also became a quasi-cult figure towards the end of her life, in large part due to the creation of the film The Notorious RBG.

Known for her forceful dissent and biting criticism of her colleagues, Ginsburg's tiny 5-ft-frame battled five major run-ins with cancer over two decades, while only missing two major cases as a result. She continued to work right until the very end.

Yet her death led not only to an outburst of mourning but also to cries of fear and indignation in some quarters as Donald Trump announced that he would be making his third lifetime appointment to the nine-justice Supreme Court, a mere 42 days before the upcoming US general election.

Trump's move is an "abuse of power", his Democratic rival Joe Biden says - urging SenateThe upper chamber of the Congress that - along with the US House of Representatives (lower chamber) - comprises the legislative branch of the US government. Each of the 50 US states is equally represented by two senators, regardless of its population size. Republicans to delay a confirmation vote.

It is unclear if the Senate would confirm the nominee, but the Democrats are already raging against the hypocrisy and threat to democracy this would represent, pointing to the notorious filibusteringA political tactic used in the Senate to prevent a measure from being brought to vote by deliberately wasting time during a debate using excessively long speeches andor raising unnecessary and extremely pedantic procedural points. in 2016, when the Republicans devoted nearly a year to successfully preventing Obama from filling a then vacancy.

Trump's likely candidate, Amy Coney Barrett, would further shift the ideological balance of the already-polarised court sharply to the right, giving it a 6-3 conservative majority. In view of the vast power of the Supreme Court and the oft-discussed rise of tribalism in US politics, such an outcome could lead to the retreat of progressiveIn a political context, the belief that society can be transformed in the interests of ordinary people. It is normally associated with the politics of the left. reforms for a lifetime.

So, does the death of Ginsburg mean the death of US justice?

Some argue yes. It will ensure that the US politics and justice system falls prey to reactionary conservatism. There are already ominous rumblings from certain evangelical circles about repealing Roe v WadeA ruling of the Supreme Court in 1973 that determined that the right to have an abortion up to the third trimester was constitutionally protected and so could not be limited by any state.. Since appointments last for a lifetime, it is crucial that no one side enjoys such a significant majority.

Others disagree. Trump was democratically elected by the people and has both a duty and the right to nominate whom he pleases in accordance with Article Two of the Constitution. Besides, "justice" comes in many forms and should not automatically be equated with the progressive policies of the left.