Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg signaled that she is in no hurry to step down from what she described as “one of the most activist courts in history” in a candid interview published Sunday.
Ginsburg told The New York Times that, despite calls from some on the let for her to retire before President Barack Obama leaves office so he can name a liberal replacement, she intends to stay on the court ““as long as I can do the job full steam, and that, at my age, is not predictable.” Appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg has survived cancer twice.
She also opened up the current court under Chief Justice John Roberts, who led the majority in striking down a crucial part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in June. Ginsburg said “if it’s measured in terms of readiness to overturn legislation, this is one of the most activist courts in history.”
In a fiery dissent, Ginsburg blasted the court’s voting rights decision, saying it could “hardly be described as an exemplar of restrained and moderate decision making.”
She addressed her future in another recent interview, telling The New Yorker in March that she intended to stay on the bench at least for the next year.
“After that, who knows?” she said.
Ginsburg also told Reuters last month that she had no plans to bow to pressure from liberals to retire.
