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In It to Win It

(12,648 posts)
Wed May 29, 2024, 12:34 PM May 2024

Former federal judge blasts John Roberts in new book and says Ruth Bader Ginsburg was annoyed by pressure to retire

CNN


Retired US Appeals Court Judge David Tatel, a former civil rights lawyer and nearly 30-year veteran of the country’s “second highest court,” laments the actions of the current Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts in a candid new memoir.

Rarely do US jurists, even in retirement, write so bluntly. A 1994 appointee of President Bill Clinton and someone whose name appeared on Democratic short-lists for the high court, Tatel particularly criticizes Roberts’ opinions on race, including to eliminate voting rights protections, a core plank of America’s civil rights revolution.

The Supreme Court, Tatel wrote, has “kicked precedent to the curb” and become “a tragedy” for civil rights and the rule of law.

Tatel also reveals high-court insights from private conversations with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He said she revealed early dealings among justices that eventually led to the milestone 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision undermining the Voting Rights Act.

Ginsburg also shared with Tatel the pressure she felt to resign while a Democrat was still president – pressure that the judge speculates may have led her to stubbornly stay on the bench.

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ColinC

(11,098 posts)
2. There are many examples -especially from her more youthful time, where her stubbornness was a great thing
Wed May 29, 2024, 12:39 PM
May 2024

Obviously this is an exception. :/

TxGuitar

(4,340 posts)
8. Right?
Wed May 29, 2024, 01:29 PM
May 2024

Boo-fucking-hoo RBG. I guess she couldn't get over herself enough to aid the country she served for so long. In the end it was all about ego it seems.

Mad_Machine76

(24,957 posts)
10. Or Garland'd
Wed May 29, 2024, 05:54 PM
May 2024

Meaning that we can't afford to lose the Senate whether or not the President is a Democrat

cilla4progress

(26,525 posts)
4. Hard not to tarnish her reputation...
Wed May 29, 2024, 12:45 PM
May 2024

in my view.

Maybe, like us, she couldn't imagine in her wildest dreams the dystopiam downturn we now live with.

usaf-vet

(7,811 posts)
6. So, how did RBG's "stubbornness" work out for the country? I would say not well at all.
Wed May 29, 2024, 01:27 PM
May 2024

I bet historians will likely see her decision to stay and not leave while a Democratic President was in office as tainting he otherwise stellar tenure.

It certainly started long before RBG's decision swung another seat, but the seat change helped them stack the court to a 6-3 for decades to come.

ColinC

(11,098 posts)
11. On the other hand her stubbornness gave us the elimination of probably a century's worth of sexist case law
Wed May 29, 2024, 10:54 PM
May 2024

tritsofme

(19,899 posts)
9. Ginsberg made an egregious error in not retiring prior to 2015, we all feel the consequences.
Wed May 29, 2024, 01:33 PM
May 2024

I hope Justice Sotomayor learns from that terrible lesson.

usaf-vet

(7,811 posts)
12. I agree, and I hope Sotomayor doesn't dig her heels in and hand yet another seat to the conservative.
Wed May 29, 2024, 11:21 PM
May 2024

That would eliminate the 5-4 decisions and essentially give the conservatives freedom to rule as they please.

We are leaving the progressive with the only option: dissent. With no meaningful weight to such dissents.

Hekate

(100,133 posts)
13. Jesus, people. Does anybody remember that Mitch McConnell held the Senate? A man so evil...
Wed May 29, 2024, 11:25 PM
May 2024

…and single-minded that seemingly he cannot die?

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