Iconic Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg remembered at Fort Lauderdale vigil: ‘It’s been devastating'

At a candlelight vigil Saturday night for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a little girl romped around wearing a crown and sporting a T-shirt that declared, in glitter: “Strong Girl, Bright Future.”

The U.S. Supreme Court justice who died Friday night at age 87 would surely agree.

A feminist icon, Ginsburg founded the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union in the 1970s, where she fought for gender equity. In 1993 she became only the second woman in history to join the nation’s highest court.

About 75 people came Saturday evening to the steps of the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale to honor and mourn Ginsburg, who succumbed to complications from pancreatic cancer. She had been hospitalized earlier this summer for an infection and in May, a gallbladder problem. Over the years, she’d also battled lung and colon cancer.

“We were really hoping she would make it. It’s been devastating to everyone,” said Joanne Sterner, 76, president of the Broward National Organization for Women.

Ginsburg’s death immediately ignited a political battle between liberals and conservatives on the timing of appointing a new justice to replace her on the court.

From her deathbed, she reportedly had said it was her “fervent wish” that her job not be filled until a new president takes office. As a member of the court’s liberal wing, her seat is critical to determining the political leaning of the court.

Democrats, hoping for Joe Biden to win the presidency this year, say the choice belongs to the victor in the Nov. 3 election.

But President Trump tweeted Saturday he would move to fill her seat “without delay.”

In the hours after Ginsburg’s death Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, issued a statement saying: “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

CNN reported Saturday night that Trump thinks he’ll choose a nominee next week.

“If somebody were to ask me now, I would say that a woman would be in first place” he said. “The choice of a woman would certainly be appropriate."

The Fort Lauderdale vigil Saturday was organized by local members of the National Organization for Women, the Pro Choice Coalition of Broward County as well as the Broward Women’s Emergency Fund, which raises money to pay for abortion care for poor women.

Some of the people attending held signs that read: “Keep Abortion Legal.”

When she got a news alert Friday night of Ginsburg’s death, abortion rights supporter Ingrid Ayala, of Deerfield Beach, broke down crying.

“I sort of went into a state of a little bit of panic and despair and anger all at once,” she said.

After grieving with like-minded friends, she said she took out her wallet and donated to all the opponents of Republican senators in 2016 who refused to consider President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, insisting that the choice had to go to the winner of that year’s election, which ended up being Trump.

He installed Neil Gorsuch for that opening, and then was able to select a second justice when Anthony Kennedy retired. That seat went to Brett Kavanaugh, who first had to defend himself against allegations of sexual assault while in high school.

One of the names bandied about now is Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative federal appeals court judge.

Would ACB replace RBG?

Sterner said she hoped not. “She’s got Trump’s agenda down to whatever he wants. We don’t need puppets on the Supreme Court.”

Others at the vigil Saturday represented the Black Lives Matter movement or were proponents of gay rights, hailing Ginsburg for her championing of equality for all.

The diminutive octogenarian justice became a pop culture phenomenon, nicknamed the “Notorious RBG,” in a nod to the late rapper Biggie Smalls.

The vigil included displays of photos or drawings of Ginsburg, some with a crown, like the rapper wore.

A silhouette of her, surrounded by candles, cited one of her quotes: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” -- RBG

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