We have crossed an important and perilous threshold.
Ann: Ruth?
Justice Ginsburg: Yes. I realize that my stock has gone down in recent times as I have been held partially responsible for the rightwards turn of the Court's decisions such that I have even been blamed for the dismantling of Roe.
I am in sympathy with this point of view because ego and intimations of mortality prevented me from leaving my post prior to my transition to make way for a more liberal appointee.
I was afraid. I was nothing without the Court, not just in prestige, which quite frankly I enjoyed, but also in self evaluation. I did not know who I was without my role as Ms. Justice. This was a shame because I allowed the good that I had been able to achieve to be diluted by my personal weaknesses.
Nevertheless, I come to you today not in confession but in celebration of the decision made recently* to uphold the review powers of state courts over legislative actions affecting federal elections. This decision will prevent state legislatures from usurping the principle of one man one vote and determining results on their own regardless of voter count. This decision follows upon a previous decision** which held firm to the implementation of the Voting Rights Act against gerrymandered discrimination based on race.
Taken together these two decision have drawn a line in the sand as to where even a right leaning Supreme Court will not go in the interests of favoring a political party.
You may recall that I said here on several occasions*** that the Court would not allow our democracy to be sacrificed in its most essential functions. These two decisions should give comfort to those who through our judicial system would be complicit in undermining our constitution and way of life as to its most fundamental right, that is, one man, one vote. However, it may be some time before each woman’s vote, not to mention those of alternate sexual identities, will be heard at full voice as rightwing politicians continue to attempt to wrest control back into the hands of the white male majority.
Nevertheless, with this decision, we have crossed an important and perilous threshold, and I am gratified that my confidence in a majority of the court has not been misplaced in at least in regard to this fundamental right. Of the three dissenting Justices I say nothing. Their just desserts will arrive in the fullness of time.
In regard to Kavanaugh who joined the majority, I am pleased to see that even a weak man can stand up when faced with the tide of history and humanity. Long may he continue to evolve.
In closing, let me say that my transition here has not been without its challenges. I hope and pray that my ongoing study and reflection on my life choices will be reflected in an expanded world view in my next incarnation.
I will return. I want to return. I have much to learn, much to offer, much to accomplish, not for my own glorification but for the furtherance of the Creative Power who pushes us outward to interact as one small but unique and critical part of the whole to bring the reality of love into the lives of humans struggling to remember their own creative dreams.
June 28, 2023
*In Moore v. Harper, 6/27/23, Docket No. 21-1271, "The 6-to-3 majority dismissed the “independent state legislature” theory, which would have given state lawmakers nearly unchecked power over federal elections.
The vote was 6 to 3, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing the majority opinion. The Constitution, he said, “does not exempt state legislatures from the ordinary constraints imposed by state law.”
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented.
The decision followed other important rulings this term in which the court’s three liberal members were in the majority, including ones on the Voting Rights Act, immigration and tribal rights. " Adam Liptak, New York Times, June 27, 2023.
***See the following posts in this blog , Ruth Bader Ginsburg: If We Are Vigilant, The Center Will Hold, May 13, 2021; Ruth Bader Ginsburg: We Are Living On A Pendulum. September 5, 2021; Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Are You Sorry Now? April 27, 2022.
(Type title into Query Box above to retrieve full post. Ruth's other posts are also instructive and prescient in this regard. You can get a list by typing her name into the Query Box.)
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