Ruth Bader Ginsburg Misses Second Day of SCOTUS Arguments

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will miss a second day of oral arguments Tuesday as the 85-year-old recovers from cancer surgery.

Chief Justice John Roberts announced that Ginsburg would be absent as the nation’s highest court heard arguments in two cases. According to Roberts, Ginsburg will participate in cases using transcripts. Monday’s absence from the court marked the first in Ginsburg’s 25-year history that the justice was not present to hear oral arguments.

The justice is currently recovering from a December 21 surgery to remove the cancerous nodes from her left lung.

Ginsburg was discharged from New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital on Christmas Day. According to court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg, Doctors found no evidence of remaining cancerous growths following the surgery and did they detect additional diseases. The growths were found during treatment for her fractured ribs, which occurred in a November 7 fall in her office.

Ginsburg has suffered from various health issues in recent years. The 85-year-old underwent cancer surgeries in 1999 and 2009 and broke her ribs in at least two separate injuries. Ginsburg had a stent placed in her heart in 2014.

Following the justice’s most recent hospitalization, President Donald Trump wished her a speedy recovery.

Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg has rebuffed calls to step down during President Barack Obama’s second term, when a confirmation process appeared more attractive with a Democrat-controlled Senate.

Ginsburg, who observers say is the liberal face of the court, has indicated that she plans to stay on the bench by hiring law clerks for at least two additional terms. In a December interview published by CNN, Ginsburg affirmed she intends to remain in her role for as long as possible. “I said I will do this job as long as I can do it full steam,” she said.

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