Ginsburg’s legacy is liberation
Manhattan: The disability community remembers Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Olmstead decision to mandate persons with disabilities to live in the community rather than languish in large institutions. This was in essence the emancipation proclamation for persons with disabilities, freeing them from horrific institutions to live and thrive in the community. Large institutions were opened in the 1800s to incarcerate hundreds of thousands of persons with disabilities. She gave families the option to look at small homes rather than large congregate institutions as an alternative for living a full life. Still, today more than 250,000 people with disabilities live in large institutions. Now, families and nonprofits work in tandem ensuring the best option for persons with disabilities to live with their own families or in small managed care homes.
It was a seminal moment in history for the civil rights of persons with disabilities. Robert Stack, president and CEO, Community Options
Against the odds
Manhattan: To the credit of both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the nation, the old adage from baseball of “three strikes and you’re out” did not function. After graduating with the highest honors from Columbia Law School, she had three strikes against her when she sought a position worthy or even less than worthy of her talent and abilities. The three strikes were that she was Jewish, she was a woman and she had a 4-year-old child. Not daunted but always remembering the slight, she became an advocate for those having the same problem. Brilliant and energetic and refusing to take no eventually led her into a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her death will leave a gaping hole in that body. Nelson Marans
Lord of the lie
West Nyack, N.Y.: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, what a consistent fighter for equal rights and justice! What a reflection she was of the struggle for human rights that ran through the last 100 years of our country! But now the mirror is shattered. The forces of darkness are not just an epic by J.R.R. Tolkien; they’re real and they want the whole pie. Mitch McConnell is about to reveal his profound hypocrisy and how little words like honor or trust mean to him. Will a century of evolution be erased? Or will the hobbits awaken from their trance? Are we the proud country of which we sing or just a current version of the Weimar Republic? Steven Green
A pro-life death
All this praise for the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Let’s suppose a conservative Supreme Court justice had been appointed in her place, Roe
v. Wade had been overturned, and hundreds of thousands or millions of babies who would have otherwise been aborted were born — human lives just as every bit as precious as yours and mine. Clearly, they would owe their lives to the end of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG a hero? I think not. I think she has a lot of blood on her hands.
Bruce Berensky
Irreplaceable
The loved, respected, admired and brilliant legal mind that was Ruth Bader Ginsburg isn’t even buried and the illiterate, pathological liar, narcissist (among many other descriptions) that is Trump has listed her possible replacement. Nobody could ever replace Ginsburg in any way, shape or form. I hope her wish comes true that nothing gets done before the election. Sherri Rosen
Power games
North Massapequa, L.I.: To all you Democrats in both houses of Congress: if there was a Democrat president and a Democratic Senate and a Supreme Court justice passed, would you be saying the same thing as you are now, wait for the election? The party in power rules, no matter what party. Remember, Obamacare passed without one Republican vote. To either party in power, it’s our way or the highway. That’s not partisanship.
Steven Malichek
Storytime
Thomas Morrison
Manhattan: What’s to prevent Democratic senators from filibustering during the SCOTUS confirmation hearings until Jan. 21? Just start with a reading of “War and Peace,” throwing in a few questions here and there, and following up with a stack of other novels.
Ken Blomster allowed to bring her makeup and hair stylists in for visits also? To call this a sentence is a joke, I call it a mini-vacation and all it proves is that it sure pays to be rich and famous in America.
Kill that bill
Margaret Stine
Rego Park: It’s abundantly clear from your recent article (“Queens Councilman’s bill would decriminalize jaywalking in NYC,” Sept. 16) that transportation policy in this town is dictated by personal injury lawyers and tech-investing venture capitalists. They shamelessly use safety and race as emotional selling points to maximize their court wins and get people to give up their cars and use app-based services instead. Jaywalking is not a crime. There are no criminal repercussions. It’s an offense like any other traffic violation and countless other rules, like having a dirty license plate or drinking in public, any of which are grounds for a police stop.
Arthur L. Miller
Peace where?
Hopewell Junction, N.Y.: President Trump is being credited with brokering two Israel-Arab peace treaties and, of course, this is great. He was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his effort. However, he should show the same concern for this country, the one he is being paid to lead. We are at war with each other right now. I really don’t care what side you are on because unless the matter is addressed and we all come together somehow, events will escalate. This country is on the brink of another Civil War and with the current leadership, the U.S. will not survive.