Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reveals the case she'd most like to see overturned

In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg prodded the Senate to act on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, discussed moving to New Zealand if Donald Trump is elected, and revealed the case she'd most like to see overturned.

With the court deadlocked four times since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Ginsburg said the Senate needs to move forward with confirming a nominee and assess the qualifications of Obama's pick, Judge Merrick Garland. "There's nothing in the Constitution that says the president stops being president in his last year," she said. Ginsburg called Garland "super bright and very nice, very easy to deal with, and super prepared," and said she believes he's "about as well qualified as any nominee to this court." She also shared that while it "won't happen," she'd love to see Citizens United overruled, but that's an "impossible dream."

As long as she can "do it full steam," Ginsburg, 83, has no plans to retire, and said under the circumstances, Chief Justice John Roberts has had a "hard job" that she thinks he's done "quite well." If Trump becomes president, she "can't imagine" what the United States would be like. "For the country, it could be four years," she said. "For the court, it could be — I don't even want to contemplate that." Her late husband, Martin Ginsburg, wouldn't want to think about it either, she told the Times, adding that he would have said, "'Now it's time for us to move to New Zealand.'"

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up