The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish was that her replacement not be confirmed until the next president is inaugurated.

Add your name to honor RBG’s legacy:

The Senate must not vote on a Supreme Court nominee until the winner of the 2020 election is in office.

The nation lost a towering figure with Justice Ginsburg’s death — a pioneer, pathbreaker, and crusader for justice and equality.

She became a beloved and iconic figure because of her own trailblazing biography, her breakthrough lawyering for equality, her fierce defense of justice and liberty as a Supreme Court justice, and, not least, her wit, panache, and readiness to tell it like it is.

The loss of someone of such impact and moral force hits hard.

It should.

As we mourn, we need to reflect on her achievements and spirit, and we need to acknowledge the pain of loss.

It is important, too, that we take inspiration and honor Justice Ginsburg’s legacy by doubling down on our commitment to the values she cherished.

With RBG’s passing, we know exactly what to do, because she gave us the road map: Ensure her successor is chosen by the winner of the November election.

There is a backdrop to this, of course.

When President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill Justice Scalia’s seat 269 days before the 2016 election, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to allow the nomination to move forward. No vote, no hearings. The people must have their say at the voting booth, McConnell proclaimed.

Well, less than 50 days before Election Day in 2020 — and with early voting already underway in more than a half dozen states — that standard requires a delay in filling RBG’s seat.

Of course, it took McConnell only a couple hours after Ginsburg’s death to announce that he had no intention of honoring her dying wish or consistently applying the purported principle he had professed just four years earlier.

But this is not a decision that Mitch McConnell gets to make unilaterally.

He can’t confirm a new justice if four Senate Republicans refuse to go along with his scheme.

At least two Senate Republicans have already said they won’t aid and abet McConnell’s plot.

It’s up to us to mobilize to hold them to their statements — and to pressure at least two other Republican senators to join them.

The Senate must not vote on a Supreme Court nominee until the winner of the 2020 election is in office.

Add your name.

For good reason, much of the public discussion about the Supreme Court focuses on basic questions of equality and individual rights.

The choice of Ginsburg’s replacement will have profound import for racial justice, women’s rights — including the right to choose — LGBTQ equality, and more.

The choice of her replacement will also influence the jurisprudence over another category of fundamental issues that receive less widespread attention: the rights of human beings as against those of corporations.

This conflict is epitomized most famously in Citizens United v. FEC, which sabotaged our democracy by conferring on corporations the power to spend whatever they want to influence elections.

The issues reach far beyond Citizens United, however:
The list goes on and on.

These are central questions about what kind of society we want to live in and what our democracy will look like — or whether we will even have one.

I want to acknowledge this: We are living through a hard and scary time, and RBG’s untimely death makes it more so.

We feel isolated — we are isolated — because of the pandemic.

That’s why it is so important that we mark RBG’s passing by joining together, building our collective power, and working together to fight for justice.

Add your name:

The Senate must not vote on a Supreme Court nominee until the winner of the 2020 election is in office.

Together, we will find our way to brighter days ahead.

With resolve,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen

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