THE First Minister has paid tribute to Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after her death at the age of 87.
The towering women’s rights champion, who was the court’s second female justice, died as a result of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Her death comes just six weeks before the US election and is likely to trigger a fierce battle over whether President Trump should nominate her replacement, or if the seat should remain vacant until the result of the November vote is known.
Mitch McConnell, the US Senate majority leader, said representatives will vote on Trump’s choice to replace Ginsburg even though it is an election year.
READ MORE: Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at the age of 87
Former president Barack Obama was among those paying tribute to Ginsburg.
He said: "Over a long career on both sides of the bench - as a relentless litigator and an incisive jurist - justice Ginsburg helped us see that discrimination on the basis of sex isn't about an abstract ideal of equality; that it doesn't only harm women; that it has real consequences for all of us. It's about who we are - and who we can be."
Nicola Sturgeon retweeted Obama’s tribute to Ginsburg, and posted separately: “Such sad news. And what a loss for the USA of a brilliantly clever woman - an icon of justice and women’s rights.”
Ginsburg, a mother of two, argued six key cases before the court in the 1970s when she was an architect of the women's rights movement. She won five.
On the court, her most significant majority opinions were the 1996 ruling that ordered the Virginia Military Institute to accept women or give up its state funding, and the 2015 decision that upheld independent commissions some states use to draw congressional districts.
Besides civil rights, Ginsburg took an interest in capital punishment, voting repeatedly to limit its use. During her tenure, the court declared it unconstitutional for states to execute the intellectually disabled and killers younger than 18.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel