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When Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg becomes a journalist, reporters and lawyers start looking for clues.
On Friday, in a supposedly fair speech on the facts at the US Court of Appeals judicial conference for the 2nd Circuit in New York, Ginsburg gave a lot to dissect.
She teased the pending decisions as to whether the census could contain a citizenship question and whether the court would decide for the first time that a state's electoral maps are so influenced by partisan manipulations that they violate the constitutional rights of voters.
Be prepared for fierce disagreements as the Court finishes its work this month, she said.
So far, only a quarter of court decisions have been narrowly divided, she noted. "Given the number of most-watched cases that have not yet been announced, I can not predict that the ratio of relatively low flicker divisions will be maintained."
As the court is about to finish its work in the last week of June, the judges now know the results, write and render opinions. The next batch will come Monday.
Ginsburg yielded nothing, but she offered what could be interpreted as a hint of her own thought.
On the issue of citizenship, for example, she exposed the facts of what she called "a case of enormous importance."
The Trump administration wants to ask all those who receive the census form whether they are citizens or not, which has not been done since 1950. Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, said that this information would be useful for protect the right to vote of minorities.
Challengers – some states and civil rights groups – said this would result in undercoverage, as respondents would be afraid to report non-citizens to their household. The motive for upholding the rights of voters is an excuse, they say, and the Department of Justice has never asked for such information.
Ginsburg noted that census experts agreed on undercoverage and that three lower court judges said the issue could not be added.
Then she noted legal similarities with a case of the last legislature in which she was dissenting.
"The speculators on the result [in the census case] note that last year, Trump v. Hawaii, the court upheld the so-called "travel ban" in a notice giving the executive much deference, "said Ginsburg.
"Interviewees in the case of the census argued that a decision favorable to Secretary Ross would extend the deference beyond the breaking point."
Ginsburg also mentioned cases of gerrymandering supporters – "very high on the list of the most watched cases". One is congressional district maps drawn by Republican leaders in North Carolina and one by Maryland Democrats.
"With modern technology, a state legislature can create a congressional delegation that is extremely disproportionate to the total number of votes," said Ginsburg, adding: "Whatever the legal choice, partisan germanmandering questions the principle fundamental that people elect their representatives, not the reverse. "
Ginsburg's remarks on the subject are hardly a surprise. The Supreme Court has struggled for decades to find out if courts have a role to play in maintaining order in partisan gerrymandering, which Ginsburg has already stated.
Justice, aged 86, noted other facts about the court. With Judge Brett Kavanaugh hiring a wholly female staff consisting of four clerks, she said, the court for the first time in history had more women than men as clerks.
"Women have not been as successful as defenders," she said. "Only about 21% of the lawyers presenting oral arguments for this term were women; of the thirty-four lawyers who appeared more than once, only six were women. "
Because people follow such things, Ginsburg noted that Judge Stephen G. Breyer spoke more than any other judge in argument and that Judge Sonia Sotomayor asked the first question more than anyone else.
Ginsburg told his audience that the resignation of Judge Anthony M. Kennedy was the most important thing that has come to court since his speech last year.who for years had been the most influential member of the court.
Her retirement "was, I would say, the most important event for the current mandate and perhaps for several more mandates," she said.
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