WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and liberals have a nightmare vision of the Supreme Court's future: President Barack Obama is defeated for re-election next year and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at 78 the oldest justice, soon finds her health will not allow her to continue on the bench.
The new Republican president appoints Ginsburg's successor, cementing conservative domination of the court, and soon the justices roll back decisions in favor of abortion rights and affirmative action.
But Ginsburg could retire now and allow Obama to name a like-minded successor whose confirmation would be in the hands of a Democratic-controlled Senate. Ginsburg said that's not happening, in her words, "anytime soon."
She likes serving with two other women, Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, and as the leader of the court's liberal-leaning justices.
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