By Reed Newcomb
Not all heroes wear capes (or in this case, robes), but Ruth Bader Ginsburg did. Ginsburg, also known by her initials RBG, served as a justice on the United States Supreme Court from 1993 until her death in 2020 at the age of 87 following a long battle with metastatic pancreatic ca ncer. Nominated by President Clinton, Ginsburg belonged to the liberal wing of the court and was the second woman to serve on the bench after Sandra Day O’Connor. “Our Na tion has lost a jurist of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts sa id. “We a t the Su- preme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice.” Ginsburg served as a preem- inent advoca te for women’s rights, even prior to her 27 year tenure on the court. Before serving as a justice, Ginsburg personally argued six cases across the bench of an all-male court as lawyer and defender of the 14th Amendment. Her goal was to esta blish that the 14th gua ra nteed equal protection not only in cases of racial discrimina tion but also re- ga rding sex discrimina tion. One by one, Ginsburg won a nd esta blished precedents through each case, win- ning five of the six she presented to the court prior to her time on the bench. Her advocacy for women’s rights alongside her strong progres- sive voting record a nd tightly com- posed dissents aga inst a conserva- tive majority in recent yea rs ea rned her the title “Notorious R.B.G.” Coined by law student Shana Knizhnik, the title is a play on the na me of the Notorious B.I.G., a rapper a nd fellow Brooklyn na tive. A documenta ry film of Gins- burg’s life titled “RBG” released in 2018, which focused on these ea rly legal ba ttles tha t would eventually shape the future of women’s rights in the U.S. Ginburg’s death was met with concern that Republicans would exploit the narrow timing between her death and the upcoming presidential election in order to confirm a third justice during President Donald Trump’s first term. In her final days, Ginsburg reiterated that another judge not take her place until after the presidential election. “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Ginsburg said. As de facto leader of the court’s liberal bloc, Ginsburg served as a strong voice against a 5-4 majority of Republican appointed justices. If Ginsburg were replaced by a conserva tive-lea ning justice, the court would face a 6-3 conserva tive majority on a n often ideologically pola rized bench. Such a majority would have a dra ma tic impact on social, environmental, a nd econom- ic policy for genera tions to come. During the last presidential election cycle in 2016, Kentucky Sena tor a nd Sena te Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hold hea rings for former President Ba rack Oba ma’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Ga rla nd, follow- ing the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia. McConnell a t the time justi- fied his action by sta ting tha t Sca- lia’s spot should not be filled until a fter the election, effectively giving the people a say through their votes. However, McConnell has since backtracked on the precedent he set in 2016, now sta ting tha t he pla ns to move forwa rd with a vote for a new nominee put forwa rd by Trump. McConnell’s cha nge in sta nce has been met with hypocrisy, but he a rgues tha t since the Sena te a nd White House a re both con- trolled by the sa me pa rty in 2020, unlike 2016, the case is different. It should be noted that the House is currently controlled by the Demo- cra tic Pa rty, showcasing a n inter- nal division between the Congress cha mbers. Connecticut Sena tor Rich- a rd Blumenthal has called out McCo- nnell’s hypocrisy in recent Tweets, citing McConnell’s own words from 2016 as precedent for 2020. “As to the appointment of Ginsburg’s successor, I couldn’t improve on wha t McConnell sa id a fter Scalia’s dea th: The America n people must have a voice in the se- lection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” Blumenthal said. The Republica n-held Sena te holds a na rrow 53 sea t majority a nd needs a t least 51 votes in order to confirm a ny nominee appointed by Trump. However, several Republica n sena tors have echoed Blumenthal’s concerns, citing the close proximity to the election as reason to hold off on any nominee hea rings. To date, a t least four Republican Senators, including Maine’s Susa n Collins, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, and Iowa’s Chuck Grassley have stated that they would oppose a vote before the election, according to CNN. Assuming these four sena tors hold true to their promise, then a new Supreme Court nominee will not be hea rd before the Sena te until a fter the presidential election, as Ginsburg had requested in her final days. “This close to the election, there is no way that the United States Senate can or should act before the voters decide,” Blumen- thal said.
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By Alex Goos
Incumbent MA Senator Ed Markey’s primary win against challenger Joe Kennedy III was nothing short of historic. This will be the first time that a member of the Kennedy family will not hold congressional office since 1946, outside of the two years between Patrick Kennedy’s departure from office and Joe Kennedy’s election to the MA-04 seat. This election also marked the first time that a member of the Kennedy family has ever lost a state-wide election in MA. “Forging a coalition of younger and more liberal Democrats, the sort of voters who once formed the core of the Kennedy base, Mr. Markey was winning about 54 percent of the vote when Mr. Kennedy called him to concede,” New York Times writer Jonathan Martin said. Political consensus in many MA circles believed Kennedy would win in a landslide. However, the Kennedy campaign underestimated the power of young progressive voters in the state, many of whom rallied in support behind Markey for his role as co-author of the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal, co-authored by Markey and NY Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was introduced in 2019 as a congressional resolution to serve as a grand plan to address both climate change and economic inequality. Leading up to the election youth-led progressive groups, such as the Sunrise Movement, feared that a Markey primary loss would set back progress on the Green New Deal and future progressive climate legislation. “Markey was the most prominent figure on the Green New Deal aside from A.O.C.,” said Varshini Prakash, the Sunrise Movement’s executive director to the New York Times. “If he goes down in a Democratic primary, immediately the story that gets spun out of that is, ʻThe Green New Deal is a losing political proposition.’” Although Markey has a solid record as a progressive legislator and is well-liked among his MA constituents, his campaign lacked political identity until this past election cycle. In order to hold his rank against Kennedy, his campaign recognized the need to take a stand. Thus Markey chose to embrace the role of progressive warrior, rallying behind the key issues for younger voters in MA, and the results prove that this strategy can be quite successful. “I just would urge other politicians to get on board, and take the same incredible adventure,” Markey said. “Take that trip that I just took.” As the progressive wing of the Democratic Party becomes larger and gains prominent voices such as those of AOC and Senator Bernie Sanders, other at-risk incumbents may want to use Markey’s campaign success as a model in order to save their own. Progressives, particularly young people, want bold and decisive action in regards to the climate crisis among other policy concerns. More moderate candidates, including Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, may find similar success in gaining young voters by highlighting these progressive concerns as a larger part of the campaign platforms. “The best thing that Joe Biden could do would be to speak in clear, exciting visionary terms about exactly what he plans to do to tackle the climate crisis, racial inequality and economic inequality,” Prakash said to the New York Times. By Hannah Murphy
The Trump administration announced on August 17 that it will move forward with its controversial plan to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for offshore oil and gas drilling. After sixty continuous years of protection, the process of auctioning off leases for the coastal plains region of the refuge will now begin. The ANWR is the largest remaining stretch of wilderness in the United States, covering over 19 million acres. Trump plans to open up 1.5 million acres in the coastal plains region for drilling. The coastal plains is vital to the ecosystem, as it is the site of porcupine caribou calving and a popular location for polar bears to make their dens. Thus while the region comprises only 8 percent of the total refuge, it is integral to the overall stability of the ecosystem. From the beginning of his administration, Trump has pushed domestic fossil fuel production in the aim of achieving global energy dominance. The coastal plains is considered one of the largest untapped onshore oil reserves in North America; however, that does not necessarily mean there are large quantities of oil in the region. Proponents of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program include Alaskan lawmakers and several indegeous groups, who argue that the drilling would provide jobs that the Alaskan economy desperately needs. The Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program is technically required by law, per the 2017 Tax Cuts Jobs Act. The act requires that at least two sales of a minimum of 400,000 acres must be made in the seven years following the 2017 signing. The sales process can now begin as the Department of the Interior has conducted the necessary reviews and has provided full approval for the plan. Once a lease is sold, it would be difficult for a future president to reverse the decision. Even if Democratic nominee Joe Biden--who is against drilling the area--won the election, he may not be able to prevent drilling from taking place if a lease was sold under the Trump administration. The program has faced fierce opposition from environmental groups and several Alaskan Native groups, such as the Gwich’in people, who have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years. These groups have already filed several lawsuits to stall the sale of leases on the grounds that the program violates the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Wilderness Act, and the Endangered Species Act. “This proposed desecration of the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge is an outrageous assault on its incomparable wildlife and habitat, the traditional lifestyle and culture of the Gwich’in Nation, and the overwhelming desire of the American people to preserve this intact ecosystem for future generations” said Dr. David Raskin, president of the Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges. The reviews conducted by the Department of the Interior do note that drilling could be highly destructive to the local ecosystem. Several protections have been put in place in an effort to diminish some of these negative effects, such as limiting the use of heavy machinery during the caribou calving season and only using exploration rigs in the heart of winter. Environmental groups argue that these protections are inadequate and ignore scientific research on the effects of drilling on an ecosystem and the environment. Another concern is the possibility of an oil spill. The necessary infrastructure to deal with an oil spill is nonexistent in the isolated location, and would potentially be catastrophic. Beyond the environmental concerns there are doubts as to whether the program would even be profitable. Many countries are in the process of weaning off of fossil fuel dependency in favor of cleaner alternatives, and the current coronavirus pandemic has caused the price of oil to collapse. As a result, major banks such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase have declared that they would not directly finance any drilling in the Arctic refuge. It is therefore uncertain how much interest there will be in the leases; however, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt predicts that a lease will likely be sold before the end of the year. |
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