In the latest Supreme Court ruling that denied President Donald Trump a requested stay on a lower court ruling, dealing his administration a blow on implementing new asylum standards, not every member of the court made their decision from the bench.
It was reported earlier today that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery to remove malignant cancer growths from her lungs. Doctors removed the nodules, which were in early-stage development, after discovering them when she went to the hospital to deal with broken rib fracture earlier this year, according to CNBC .
The cancer did not spread to any other areas of her body.
“Currently, no further treatment is planned,” a statement from the Supreme Court read.
As the Supreme Court was readying itself to decide on the matter of an asylum ban, which was deemed unconstitutional in a lower federal court last month, the justices had yet to render their individual verdicts.
Four justices had decided in favor of a request for a stay of that order, which would allow the Trump administration to continue implementing new rules for how asylum-seekers coming to and already within the U.S. could apply for that status. Four other justices ruled against the motion for a stay, which would leave in place the lower court ruling, which, in turn, disallowed the administration from putting the rules in place.
Ginsburg cast the deciding vote, siding with the bloc that ruled against a motion for a stay of the court order. Remarkably, the oldest justice on the Court did so from her hospital bed, according to a tweet from NBC News .
BREAKING: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had malignant nodules removed from her lung in a New York hospital and is said to be “resting comfortably.” https://t.co/kRXMGARRmB pic.twitter.com/KMiO8farHr
— ABC News (@ABC) December 21, 2018
“NBC News has learned Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg voted FROM HER HOSPITAL BED to refuse to let the government enforce Pres. Trump’s proposed restriction on asylum,” NBC News bureau researcher Gary Grumbach wrote in a tweet .
Ginsburg didn’t actually have to cast the deciding vote. If the Supreme Court has a decision, when one or more justice is absent, that results in a tie, the lower court ruling automatically stays in place. In other words, had Ginsburg not ruled from her hospital bed, the Trump administration still would have been denied a stay of the original decision.
Per previous reporting from the Inquisitr , the majority opinion consisted of the four liberal bloc justices who were also joined by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts. The remaining four conservative justices sided with the administration.
