On RBG and the Election
The Supreme Court of the United States often referred to collectively as SCOTUS, has been called upon by the Trump campaign to either examine or overturn parts of the election process. At first glance, it may seem that the nine judges will turn down any attempt to undermine the normal democratic process of an election, but the aftermath of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bater Ginsburg’s past decisions have a role to play.
On September 18th, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bater Ginsburg passed away at the age of 86 due to complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. After decades of fighting for women’s rights, RBG became a pop culture and feminist icon. The Trump administration seized her death as an opportunity by promptly using the Republican majority in the Senate to replace her with conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett in the final few months of the presidential term. This decision will and already has begun to undo decades of progressive rulings under RBG.
Judge Barrett clerked under late Justice Anthony Scalia and believes in the conservative originalist interpretation of the constitution, meaning that Barret asserts all statements in the Constitution should be interpreted as they were when it was written. During her tenure in the US Circuit Court of Appeals, Barret made several rulings based on this philosophy. In 2019, she supported a male student who filed a discrimination lawsuit saying he was not provided his Constitutional due process. She ruled that nonviolent felons have the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Furthermore, Judge Barrett’s confirmation effectively displaces the current power distribution in the court. This makes it likely that there will be upcoming challenges relating to the rights of same-sex couples, immigration, the ACA, and more.
In contrast, Justice Ruth Bater Ginsburg fought for justice and equal rights throughout her career. While volunteering for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), she argued six cases in the Supreme Court, of which she won five. In 1970, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the US Court of Appeals. After Ginsburg was appointed as Supreme Court Justice in 1993, she made several monumental changes, ruling mental illness to be covered by the Disabilities Act of 1990. She was also the first supreme court justice to officiate a same-sex wedding in 2013, and supported the “Me Too” movement, encouraging sexual harassment survivors to speak up about their experiences.
After the 2020 election, President Trump attempted to get SCOTUS to stop counting mail-in votes. The long-standing Purcell Principle dictates that the courts should not alter election rules during an election. In fact, Judge Barrett’s conservative originalist view would theoretically refuse to intervene in this Presidential election. However, in a case involving the state of Texas, Judge Ginsberg ruled that election rule changes with little risk of disrupting the election are permissible. After Judge Barrett’s appointment, this argument may no longer help President Trump find a path to re-election since it disagrees with Barett’s originalist interpretation.
by ANIKA BASU