Courts

Ruth Bader Ginsburg On Why She Didn’t Retire From SCOTUS Under Obama

The Notorious One finally responds to a question everyone wants to know the answer to.

(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

When that suggestion is made, I ask the question: Who do you think the president could nominate that could get through the Republican Senate? Who you would prefer on the court than me?

— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, responding to critiques about why she didn’t announce her retirement from the Supreme Court when Barack Obama was serving as president. The 86-year-old justice, who is currently in recovery after her fourth battle with cancer, watched as the Republican-controlled Senate refused to address Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the high court following the death of her close friend, Antonin Scalia, in 2016.


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.