Wow

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87, the Supreme Court announced Friday evening.
Why it matters: Ginsburg had suffered from serious health issues over the past few years. Her death sets up a fight over filling a Supreme Court seat with less than 50 days until the election.

• Just days before her death, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed," according to NPR.

The big picture: Ginsburg was a progressive icon and the second woman to ever be confirmed to the Supreme Court. She'd served on the court since 1993.
Looking back on Ginsburg's life
Early years: Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 15, 1933. While Ginsburg later became non-observant, she was born into a Jewish household. Her parents were of Ukrainian and Austrian decent.

• Ginsburg's mother in particular valued education, and would often take her daughter to the library and hoped she'd attend college one day. Ginsburg's mother died before her high school graduation.
• The future justice attended Cornell University, where she met her husband, Martin Ginsburg. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in government and as the highest ranking female student in her class.
• Upon graduation, she married Martin, and joined him in moving to Oklahoma. She took a job at the Social Security Administration, where she was demoted after becoming pregnant with her first child.
• Ginsburg ultimately enrolled in Harvard Law School, where she was one of nine women in a class of roughly 500. She later transferred to Columbia Law School, earning her degree in 1959 and tying for first in her class. She became the first woman to be featured in two major law reviews: both Harvard and Columbia's.

Career: Ginsburg struggled to find employment at the start of her career, being rejected on grounds of her gender, despite glowing recommendations from her professors. She eventually landed a clerkship role, followed by time conducting research in Sweden. She got her first teaching position at Rutgers University, where she was paid less than her male counterparts because her husband already had a well-paying job.

• Ginsburg went on to a number of other roles in academia, and worked to develop programs meant to strengthen legal protections for women. She's credited with making significant advancements for women under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
• Former President Carter nominated Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980, where she served until former President Clinton nominated her to the Supreme Court in 1993.
• Ginsburg was confirmed by Senate by a 96-3 vote.

Ginsburg's husband passed in 2010. She leaves behind two children: James and Jane.

Trump needs to hurry on this...prefer minority woman but will take Ted Cruz

Biden rule.

Baylor3216 said:

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And God looks down and laughs at the things people comfort themselves into.

I pray for the safety of everyone involved. What a monumental shift in the election

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It's not a shift. It just augments the issue, the related emotions, and the risk of our election being further compromised by the left.

Could they vote her in after the election before inauguration if Trump loses?

Move up a moderate liberal from one of the lower level courts and turn that lower court conservative

RIP RG

How does the timing of this death and subsequent nomination compare to M Garland?

RIP. Prayers for peace and comfort for her family.

Bearitto said:

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Jack and DP said:

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RIP

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It's nice of you to wish, but highly unlikely, given her advocacy for murdering babies.

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She's at peace. She's moved into the same state she was in before she was conceived, nonexistent, except for remains. RIP

Limited IQ Redneck in PU said:

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RIP RG

How does the timing of this death and subsequent nomination compare to M Garland?

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Scalia died in mid-February, and Obama nominated Garland in mid-March.

Rest in Piece, Justice Ginsburg.