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Ginsburg leaves legacy and questions about her successor

“Like our society,“ Ginsburg once told a U of M audience, “Our constitution can evolve.“

MINNEAPOLIS — She was called notorious, known as a champion for women’s rights, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a pioneer whose mark on our nation is almost immeasurable.

“Her legacy is just amazing,” said University of Minnesota political science professor Kathryn Pearson. “Few people did more for women’s equality than she did.”

That legacy includes fame both for cases she won—and those she lost, writing dissenting opinions she said could shape law in the future, a belief she explained in a 2014 visit to the University of Minnesota.

“Like our society,“ Ginsburg told the audience, “Our constitution can evolve.“

Now with her death it’s the Supreme Court that’s evolving, with questions about who will fill Ginsburg’s seat, and whether it’ll happen before November’s presidential election. Ginsburg herself told her family her "most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which considers all Supreme Court nominations. She calls Ginsburg an icon and a hero.

“No one’s ever going to be able to take her place,” said Klobuchar. “But the person who does should carry on her fight.“

Klobuchar also responded to a tweet just hours after Ginsburg’s passing from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who wrote, in part, “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate,” a direct contradiction to his 2016 argument that confirmation hearings should not be held close to a presidential election.

“We hold him at his words for over a year when he insisted the American people should have a say,” said Klobuchar. “And I think the American people will have something to say about this.“

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