US Supreme Court says Justice Ginsburg appears cancer free after surgery

Court says her recovery is ‘on track’ even as she missed three days of arguments this week, the first time that’s happened since she joined the court in 1993

By AP and ToI Staff 11 January 2019, 8:15 pm

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In this photo from November 30, 2018, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sits with fellow Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Friday that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s recovery from cancer surgery is “on track” and no further treatment is required. But the 85-year-old justice will miss court arguments next week.

Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says that doctors for Ginsburg confirmed an initial evaluation that found no evidence of remaining cancer following surgery.

The court’s oldest justice had surgery three weeks ago to remove cancerous growths on her left lung. She was released from the hospital in New York four days later and has been recuperating at home since then.

Ginsburg missed three days of arguments this week, the first time that’s happened since she joined the court in 1993.

She has had two previous bouts with cancer, in 1999 and 10 years later.

The growths were found during tests Ginsburg had after she fractured ribs in a fall on Nov. 7.

The justice, who was appointed by former president Bill Clinton in 1993, is one of four liberals on the nine-member court.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has had the opportunity to replace two retiring justices, tipping the balance in the conservatives’ favor.

The justices of the US Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait to include the new Associate Justice, top row, far right, at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Seated from left: Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. Standing behind from left: Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan and Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Heavy attention is given to Ginsburg’s health amid liberal worries that, if she dies or has to retire for health reasons, Trump would get another pick and lock the high court into a conservative ideology for a generation to come.

The court’s oldest justice, Ginsburg — fondly known as “The Notorious RBG,” a riff on slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G. — is a liberal stalwart who has said she will not retire as long as she feels she can do the work.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, into a Jewish family, she attended Cornell University and then studied law, first at Harvard and then Columbia University, at a time when the profession was almost exclusively male.