Another Liberal Begs Ginsburg to Retire from SCOTUS
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the leader of the Supreme Court's liberal wing, turned 81 years old over the weekend. How did her admirers on the American left celebrate the happy occasion? Writing at the Los Angeles Times, Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of UC Irvine School of Law and an outspoken progressive, told the elderly justice to get lost:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg should retire from the Supreme Court after the completion of the current term in June. She turned 81 on Saturday and by all accounts she is healthy and physically and mentally able to continue. But only by resigning this summer can she ensure that a Democratic president will be able to choose a successor who shares her views and values.
There's plenty more in this vein, with Chemerinsky sketching out a parade of horribles he fears will occur if Ginsburg waits too long to step down. Nor is this the first time a prominent liberal has told Ginsburg to take one for the team. Back in 2011, when Ginsburg was just a sprightly 78, Harvard's Randall Kennedy urged her to retire just in case Barack Obama lost his bid for reelection. "If Obama loses," Kennedy wrote, Ginsburg will "have contributed to a disaster" and "besmirched" her otherwise "estimable" record.
Translation: Nice legacy you got there, Ginsburg. It would be a shame if we had to tarnish it for you. Why don't you just get with the program?