In Honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 'We Dissent'

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action released the following statement on Monday in response to the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Republicans' plan to fill her seat before the November elections:

"We honor the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by pledging with all our righteous fury to further her pursuit of justice," said Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. "The security of the rights of millions of women, immigrants, and people of color in a society should not rest on the shoulders of one woman, no matter how strong. Inspired by Justice Ginsburg's legacy of fighting for equality as the first Jewish woman on the Supreme Court, we rise and we dissent against any effort to undermine justice and uphold civil rights."

"We dissent against the naked hypocrisy of Republican Senate leadership and a president so weak and unpopular that he would seek to undermine an election and stack the courts. We call on Senate Democrats to do everything in their power to block any attempt to fill this Supreme Court seat until a new government is sworn in next year."

"We dissent against the tyranny of minority rule where one political party will do anything, say anything, to hold onto power against the will of a majority of the people. If Republican leaders have their way, it would mean 5 of the 9 seats on the Supreme Court are filled by presidents who lost the popular vote. We also note that the current Senate majority, which seeks to rush the nomination process, represents a minority of the population. If we are to truly build a multiracial democracy in this country, that must include a Supreme Court that truly guarantees equal justice under law, not one that is so easily manipulated by deeply cynical politicians like Mitch McConnell."

"Most of all, we dissent against any notion of despair. We dissent against fear. We rise with millions of Americans to fulfill the promise of a democracy that recognizes and protects the rights of all of us, no matter what we look like or where we come from. We call on American Jews to rise up with moral courage and fight with all our might for a country for all of us."

In an interview in 2002, Justice Ginsburg said:

"Dissents speak to a future age. It's not simply to say, 'My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.' But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that's the dissenter's hope: that they are writing not for today, but for tomorrow."