Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently very publicly criticized Donald Trump, asserting, among other things, that he is unfit for a presidential candidate. Trump unsurprisingly responded that he found her comments highly inappropriate. This has stirred public discussion on the propriety of such a high ranking judicial officer weighing in on politics, particularly something as central as the presidential election. While it may seem Trump is more commonly the object of mainstream media ridicule and criticism, both The New York Times and to some extent The Washington Post actually sided with Trump insofar as stating that Justice Ginsburg may have crossed a crucial and largely unprecedented line with her derisive comments. As these sources point out, while there is actually no legal requirement that Supreme Court justices refrain from giving their opinion about a presidential campaign, it arguably creates much doubt about the Court’s impartiality if it were to hear a related case. Particularly this raises concern about what will happen if the current presidential race results in a polarizing legal case such as Bush v. Gore.
Regardless of the appropriateness or accuracy (or lack thereof depending on your opinion) of her comments, Justice Ginsburg has certainly brought an interesting twist to the presidential race and the public discussion to follow in the months to come.
