Agree with her judicial philosophy or not, nobody can deny that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one tough lady. After a weeklong absence from her bench on the Supreme Court while recovering from surgery, the notorious RBG is reportedly “on track” to returning soon.
According to Fox News, the court announced on Friday that Justice Ginsburg will be working from home next week and will return to the bench shortly after.
“Justice Ginsburg will continue to work from home next week and will participate in the consideration and decision of the cases on the basis of the briefs and the transcripts of oral arguments. Her recovery from surgery is on track,” Supreme Court public information officer Kathy Arberg said in a statement.
Furthermore, doctors have determined that Justice Ginsburg has no remaining signs of cancer. “Post-surgery evaluation indicates no evidence of remaining disease, and no further treatment is required,” she said.
No exact timetable has been provided indicating when Ginsburg will return to her duties. Her absence this week marked the first time the Supreme Court went forward without her presence since being confirmed 25 years ago.
In late December of last year, Justice Ginsburg underwent surgery for lung cancer. The Supreme Court said at the time she underwent a “pulmonary lobectomy” resulting in the removal of two malignant nodules.
“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent a pulmonary lobectomy today at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City,” read the statement. “Two nodules in the lower lobe of her left lung were discovered incidentally during tests performed at George Washington University Hospital to diagnose and treat rib fractures sustained in a fall on November 7. Both nodules removed during surgery were found to be malignant on initial pathology evaluation.”
Fox News reports that two doctors with experience in performing pulmonary lobectomies said that Ginsburg should recover within six-to-eight weeks given her age and the type of procedure she underwent. They do expect Justice Ginsburg to return sometime next month. If her absence continues, however, then people will begin to speculate if something more serious is happening with the justice.
“But should she not return for the Feb. 19 public sessions, there will likely be renewed concern for the liberal justice’s future,” reports Fox. “Ginsburg’s health troubles have been met by significant concern from liberals, who recognize that if she retires and Trump picks a conservative to replace her, it would mark a significant generational shift to the right for the court.”
Indeed, fans of Ruth Bader Ginsburg significantly increased their goofiness as her absence persisted throughout the week. Over at Politico, columnist Roger Simon said that he would actually sacrifice precious days of his own life to prolong Ginsburg’s.
Simon said on Twitter: “If it were possible, would you subtract one day off your life and add it to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life for one extra day of good health? If just 10,000 people did this, it would add 27 productive years to her life.”
The Hollywood Reporter also announced this week that fashion retailer Banana Republic would reissue the “Ginsburg dissent collar” from 2012 and donate the proceeds to the ACLU in her honor.
“RBG is not just a judicial icon, she’s also a fashion one,” reported THR. “Banana Republic on Monday revealed that the company will reissue Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Dissent Collar Necklace for a limited time.”
“The dissent collar has become synonymous with Ginsburg’s way of showing the public how she feels about a decision on the bench,” the report continued. “She even wore her collar the day after Donald Trump’s presidential election win to showcase her disapproval of the results.”