Why a judge’s health matters to US politics

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been diagnosed with lung cancer after breaking ribs. If she retired, her replacement would tilt the US Supreme Court to the right, says TP O’Mahony

WHEN Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an associate justice of the US Supreme Court, and a strong voice on its liberal wing, fell on November 7 and cracked three ribs, the news sent a frisson through the political and legal establishments in Washington.