Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Screenshot via Columbia)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had a pulmonary lobectomy to remove cancerous nodes from her lungs over the holidays, will miss oral arguments today. It’s the first time in her career that she’s missed a session. She might miss the whole week of arguments.
She’s recovering normally from surgery. People probably wouldn’t be surprised that she’s missing today’s arguments if it wasn’t for the fact that she never has before, despite various health scares.
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But she’s still working. She’s probably already read the briefs and will read the transcripts from today’s arguments. She will fully take part in the decision. If you put a cardboard cutout of her in her seat, it’d be just like having another Clarence Thomas on the Court for a couple of days. Nothing is f***ed here.
And, if you ask me, the cases at the bar today are a big meh. They’re arguing Merck Sharp & Dohme v. Albrecht, which is a pre-emption case over a state failure to warn statute. And they’re arguing Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, which asks if lawyers are debt collectors for the purpose of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
I promise you that she can read about this stuff just fine.
In terms of what this means about her long-term health… I mean, she’s 85. Every day is a gift.
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Get well soon, Justice Ginsburg. Take all the time you need to recover.
Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.