US Supreme Court Justice and liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday , opening a crucial vacancy on the high court expected to set off a pitched political battle at the peak of the presidential campaign .
Affectionately known as the Notorious RBG, the 87 -year -old Ginsburg was the oldest of nine Supreme Court justices .
She died after a fight with pancreatic cancer , the court announced , saying she passed away “surrounded by her family at her home in Washington , DC.”
Coming just 46 days before an election in which President Donald Trump lags his Democratic rival Joe Biden in the polls , the vacancy offers the Republican a chance to lock in a conservative majority at the court for decades to come .
Trump — who was told of Ginsburg ’s passing while on the campaign trail — issued a statement praising her as a “titan of the law , ” but gave no indication whether he intended to press ahead with a nomination .
Accolades flowed in for the pioneering Jewish justice .
“Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature, ” said Chief Justice John Roberts .
Trump ’s predecessor Barack Obama said in a tweet that Ginsburg “fought to the end , through her cancer , with unwavering faith in our democracy and its ideals .”
Joe Biden , said she was “an American hero , a giant of legal doctrine , and a relentless voice in the pursuit of that highest American ideal : Equal Justice Under Law .”
Former president Jimmy Carter called her a “beacon of justice ”, while Hillary Clinton thanked her for paving the way for “so many women .”
In Washington , hundreds of tearful mourners headed to lay flowers and light candles in front of the Supreme Court , where the diminutive Ginsburg sat for 27 years , even taking arguments and issuing opinions from her hospital bed after repeated bouts of illness over the past two years .
Ginsburg anchored the court’s liberal faction , whittled to four by two Trump appointments since 2017 .
The appointment of a sixth conservative justice could lead to a court that would potentially remove abortion rights , strengthen the powers of business , and water down rights provided to minorities and the LGBTQ community over the past three decades.
Within minutes of the news of her death, the enormous political battle had begun — with Biden warning Trump had no right to name a successor so close to the November 3 election .
Democrats are expected to fight tough to force a delay — an uphill battle given the control Republicans have on the Senate , which must approve any nominee .
( AFP )
