The following article was published in the December 2020 issue of the International Review of Contemporary Law, the journal of the IADL.
by Marjorie Cohn
IADL joins progressive people in the United States and throughout the world in mourning the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. During her 27 years on the high court, Justice Ginsburg distinguished herself as protector of the poor and the disenfranchised. She wrote landmark decisions – many of them in dissent – upholding the rights of women; lesbian, gay and transgendered people; immigrants; people of color; criminal defendants; people with mental disabilities; workers and the poor. Justice Ginsburg cast more liberal votes than any other justice in the Court’s most significant cases. A leader in the fight for gender equality, she will long be remembered for her consistent commitment to freedom, justice and equality.
It is a travesty that Donald Trump appointed Amy Coney Barrett to take Ginsburg’s seat on the Court. Barrett seeks to strip health insurance from tens of millions of people and crush reproductive rights. She poses a serious threat to civil rights, including voting rights. With the addition of Barrett, the Court is now split 6 to 3 in favor of radical right wingers. Barrett is 48 years old and is likely to serve on the Court for several decades.
Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the US National Lawyers Guild, and a member of the Bureau of the International Association of the Democratic Lawyers and the advisory board of Veterans of Peace. Professor Cohn writes frequent articles and provides legal and political commentary for television, radio and online publications. Her many books include Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral and Geopolitical Issues. See https://marjoriecohn.com/.
All articles published in the International Review of Contemporary Law reflect only the position of their author and not the position of the journal, nor of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.