Daily US Times: US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died of cancer at the age of 87, the court has said.
Ginsburg, an iconic champion of women’s rights, died on Friday of metastatic pancreatic cancer at her home in Washington, DC, surrounded by her family, the statement said.
Earlier this year, Ginsburg confirmed that she was undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer.
She was a prominent feminist who became a figurehead for liberals in the United States.
Ginsburg was the oldest justice and the second ever woman to sit on the US Supreme Court, where she served for 27 years.
Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement on Friday: “Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature.”
“We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her – a tireless and resolute champion of justice,” he added.
As one of four liberal justices on the court, Ginsburg’s health was watched closely. Her death raises the prospect of President Donald Trump, a Republican, trying to expand its slender conservative majority, even before this November’s election.
Ginsburg expressed her strong disapproval of such a move in the days before her death. According to National Public Radio, she wrote in a statement to her granddaughter, where she says: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
White House sources told BBC partner CBS News that President Trump is expected to nominate a conservative replacement for Ginsburg as soon as possible,
After an election rally in Minnesota, Mr Trump reacted to Ginsburg’s death saying: “I didn’t know that. She led an amazing life, what else can you say?”
The justice had suffered from five bouts of cancer, with the most recent recurrence in early 2020.
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