Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Tuesday with an infection that she reportedly sustained as the result of a gallbladder condition.
“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent non-surgical treatment for acute cholecystitis, a benign gallbladder condition, this afternoon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland,” the Supreme Court said in a statement. “Following oral arguments on Monday, the Justice underwent outpatient tests at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., that confirmed she was suffering for a gallstone that had migrated to her cystic duct, blocking it and causing an infection.”
The statement continued by stating that Ginsburg would remain in the hospital for “a day or two” and that further updates “will be provided as they become available.”
Ginsburg, 87, has suffered from numerous health problems in recent years, including four bouts with cancer.
In 1999, Ginsburg was diagnosed with colon cancer and had to undergo surgery. In 2009, Ginsburg underwent surgery for early-stage pancreatic cancer. In 2018, Ginsburg underwent surgery to remove two cancerous nodules from her left lung. In 2019, underwent three weeks of radiation treatment to treat a localized cancerous tumor on her pancreas.
“Wednesday’s case — set to be argued via teleconference due to the coronavirus — has involved a lengthy battle spanning eight years with the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious group serving the poor and elderly,” Fox News reported. “All justices are participating via phone, so Ginsburg should have no impediments to staying involved in the case.”
“Ginsburg has faced a slew of hurdles concerning her health, fueling speculation that her possible exit from the court could provide an opportunity for President Trump to appoint a third justice to the bench,” Fox News added. “However, she consistently has slapped down any notion that her departure from the nation’s highest court was imminent, insisting that she’d like to remain on the bench until she’s 90 years old.”
President Donald Trump has got to fill two Supreme Court seats with conservative justices during his first term in office and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has previously stated that he will fill any vacancy on the court during the 2020 election year.
If Trump gets the opportunity to fill a third vacancy of the Supreme Court during his first term in office it will likely shape the nation’s judicial system for decades to come.
The Economist reported:
ON ALMOST ANY measure, Donald Trump ranks himself among the most successful presidents in history. In one area—making appointments to America’s federal court system—he may actually be right. In a little over three years, Mr Trump has nominated and won Senate confirmation for 192 federal judges, including 137 district-court judges, 51 appellate judges and two Supreme Court justices. No president since at least Ronald Reagan has racked up judicial appointments so quickly (the closest was Bill Clinton with 189 at this point in his presidency: see chart). By the end of the year, on current trends, a quarter of federal judges will be Mr Trump’s appointees. They may prove his most enduring legacy.
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