Jewish Democrats: Honor Justice Ginsburg’s Dying Wish

WASHINGTON — The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) mourns the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and calls on the United States Senate to respect her last wish not to be replaced on the Supreme Court until at least January 2021. Halie Soifer, executive director of the JDCA released the following statement:

“Jewish Democrats mourn the enormous loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the most influential and powerful Jewish women to serve our nation. Justice Ginsberg embodied Jewish values including a commitment to tikkun olam and our tradition’s commandment of ‘justice, justice, you shall pursue,’ which hung in her chambers in Hebrew. Justice Ginsburg’s life was dedicated to ensuring equal protection under the law for all Americans, and we are incredibly grateful for her service. May the memory of Justice Ginsburg be a blessing, and may the Senate honor her dying wish for her seat to be filled only after the next president is inaugurated.

“Senate Majority Leader McConnell set a standard – 10 months before the 2016 election – that the American people must have a voice in appointments to the Supreme Court before a presidential election. Election Day is six weeks away and many Americans have already voted. To deny the American people a say in this critically important period violates all norms in American history and contradicts the very the standard Republicans set for Supreme Court appointments in 2016. Forcing a vote immediately before the election would be the height of hypocrisy and an unconscionable miscarriage of justice.

“Slightly more than four in five Jewish American voters cite the Supreme Court as one of the most important issues driving their vote in this election according to a recent poll, and a majority of Jewish voters trust Joe Biden more than Donald Trump on every issue, including reproductive rights and racial justice. We know that the Supreme Court influenced the Jewish vote in 2018, when 79% of Jewish voters supported Democrats, and it will again in 2020.”