Notorious RBG is a fitting nickname this week. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in an unprecedented move, made highly critical remarks about presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
Some of the highlights include:
At first I thought it was funny, to think that there's a possibility he could be president . . .
and:
He's a faker. He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego.
In true Trump fashion, he fired back on Twitter, saying 'Justice Ginsburg of the U.S Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot - resign!"
Ranking republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan also condemned Ginsburg, saying, “For someone on the Supreme Court who is going to be calling balls and strikes in the future based upon whatever the next president and Congress does, that strikes me as inherently biased and out of the realm."
On Thursday, Ginsburg released a statement:
On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them. Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future, I will be more circumspect.
But her comments wade into some uncharted and choppy waters. Two of our best legal minds, Former Federal Judge, and supporter of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Gertner and Former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, joined Jim on Thursday evening to discuss Ginsburg’s comments, and to share their thoughts on the eve before Trump’s vice president pick.
Both Gertner and Sullivan agreed that Ginsburg crossed the line. Gertner said that it is a complicated situation, and while formal rules about this don't apply to the Supreme Court, "it doesn't mean that it was a good thing to do." She compared the situation to Scalia and Cheney duck hunting together. Sullivan doesn't know if Scalia crossed the line, and said that it is no different than a district judge having a relationship with a lawyer. He said that Ginsburg's comments raises the eyebrows, not only of legal minds, but also of the general public. "It is unheard of," he said, " to weigh in on presidential politics.
Gertner said that in a time when politics are so divided, the Supreme Court should temper themselves. While Gertner doesn't think that Ginsburg should recuse herself, she thinks that there should be rules about what they can do and say. Sullivan said that it is sad to think that we now need a rule to monitor Supreme Court judges. He said that a term limit for Supreme Court judges would "make some sense." Gertner was ambivalent to term limits, and said that it takes some time to get into the job. The job is supposed to outlast any particular presidency. Jim raised the point that the next president could nominate a 50-year-old to the court, a job that could last through eight presidencies.
Gertner is a Clinton supporter, while Sullivan said that he will be voting for the republican in the race. Sullivan said that none of his preferences were on the short list for Trump's vice president pick. He likes Marco Rubio. Gertner said that it is unclear if Pence can deliver his state of Indiana, and noted his "terrible rating with the LGBT community." She added that she was hoping for Newt Gingrich as Trump's pick, "because there would be six wives between the two of them," which made Jim laugh.
They also discussed Clinton's email decision. Gertner said that while Clinton's decision was "dumb," there was no criminal intent. She argued that Clinton was sending emails within the State Department, and it was not a leak. Sullivan said that there is "no question she broke the law," but there is question if it should warrant federal charges. "She violated the statute," he said.
