Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she has no plans on retiring anytime soon and believes she has “at least five more years” on the bench.
Speaking on Sunday after watching a play about late colleague Justice Antonin Scalia’s life, Ginsburg said, “I’m now 85. My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five more years.”
This confirmation from Ginsburg comes as a relief to many, who are concerned about Trump’s ability to stack the Supreme Court with conservative justices following the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. SCOTUS already has five right-leaning appointees, and four left-leaning ones, including Kennedy, and another Republican nomination could put progressive policy in severe jeopardy for the next several decades. In particular, Trump has stated that a goal in changing the Supreme Court would be to overturn Roe v. Wade, which would be a crippling blow to reproductive justice and women’s rights in the United States. But Ginsburg isn’t anywhere close to calling it quits yet, and many people are celebrating her strength and tenacity.
"I think I have at least 5 more years" — Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 7/29/18 pic.twitter.com/ztkZKIxefq
— Julie Cohen (@FilmmakerJulie) July 30, 2018
85-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg today:
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) July 30, 2018
"I have about at least 5 more years" on Supreme Court .
In other words Trump won't be picking this amazing woman's replacement as long as she stays healthy.
Thank you Justice Ginsburg!!
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is going to work until she’s 90, so she’s basically an honorary millennial now.
— Evan DeSimone (@Smorgasboredom) July 30, 2018
However, others are pointing out what they see as a strange and broken system, where elderly justices have to “hang on” in order to prevent a decades-long imbalance of political power.
https://twitter.com/AlexBerezow/status/1023750861988671488
https://twitter.com/moiradonegan/status/1023764482990981120?s=21
The law is so imbalanced in the highest court in the land when people are celebrating an octogenarian "holding on" for five more years when SCOTUS judges should have set term limits. #ruthbaderginsburg
— JB (@josephlboston) July 30, 2018
Critics of the Supreme Court see a lifetime appointment by the president as antithetical to democracy, both because citizens do not have a direct say in Supreme Court justices, and the iron-clad tenure justices hold in an ever-changing culture.
When asked about term limits for justices, Ginsburg seemed to think it was very unlikely. “You can’t set term limits, because to do that, you’d have to amend the Constitution,” the justice said. While many citizens may think this is a necessary change, it does not seem to be a relevant issue to decision makers in Washington.
H/T CNN