Calls for Ginsburg’s Resignation

The past week has seen two pieces on the growing chorus of calls from the Left for Justice Ginsburg to step down now, while she is assured of having her replacement named by President Obama. The Associated Press notes that

“Ginsburg has said gracefully, and with apparent good humor, that the president should not expect a retirement letter before 2015. She will turn 82 that year, the same age Justice Louis Brandeis was when he left the court in 1939. Ginsburg, who is Jewish, has said she wants to emulate the court's first Jewish justice.”

Yale Law School Professor Stephen Carter argues that the calls for Ginsburg’s resignation arise from “the [mistaken] belief that judges exist, in effect, to serve a constituency. Carter emphasizes the importance of Justices, instead, remaining impartial where

“’Impartiality’ means not that members of the court have no views, but that their ultimate fealty is to the Constitution and the institution they serve, rather than to particular issues or movements.”

Well said, especially for a Yale law professor.