SCOTUS’ Ginsburg Faces Public Tug-O-War Over Retirement

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 82 years old and has spent 22 years on the Court, and now faces pressure from many quarters to retire at the end of the Court’s next session, so that President Obama can appoint her successor. Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy and UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky both have written op-ed pieces urging Ginsburg to retire. Supporters say Ginsburg, the senior liberal member of the Court, has recently been doing her best work, and they point to former Justice John Paul Stevens – who retired at 90 and now writes books on the Constitution – as proof that Ginsburg may have many productive years ahead. Some worry that, even with a Democratically-appointed successor in place, a key advocate on women’s issues would be lost.