Ruth Bader Ginsburg: US Supreme Court judge dies of cancer aged 87

[Null/Void]

US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an iconic champion of women's rights, has died of cancer at the age of 87, the court has said.

Ginsburg died on Friday of metastatic pancreatic cancer at her home in Washington, DC, surrounded by her family, the statement said.

Earlier this year, Ginsburg said she was undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer.

She was a prominent feminist who became a figurehead for liberals in the US.

Ginsburg was the oldest sitting justice on the Supreme Court, having served 27 years on the nation's highest court.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: US Supreme Court judge dies of cancer, aged 87

The justice, an iconic champion of women's rights, dies at 87 after suffering from pancreatic cancer.

www.bbc.com

"Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature," Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement on Friday. "We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her - a tireless and resolute champion of justice."

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.

 

[KAL-EL]

RIP Justice Ginsburg

 

[Nilgiri]

Woah, this is breaking news....you were first source I saw it @Yankeestani , kudos.

RIP to her.

Though she was activist judge, a concept (and thus many rulings) I personally have big issue with...she was old-school scruples and principles...and stayed to SCOTUS seat to the end (even though she could have retired and gotten an assured activist-lib judge to replace under Obama tenure for example). She followed the spirit of getting appointed to highest court, she took it very seriously. You got to respect her for that and hope all SCOTUS judges follow that principle as much as they can too.

It was that personal fortitude and character that probably was part of the genuine friendly relationship she had with Antonin Scalia who can be argued to be the 2nd/3rd strongest constitutionalist on SCOTUS in recent times (after Clarence Thomas and maybe Alito)...i.e a friendship across seemingly a divide, a hallmark of the earlier US good-faith bipartisan approach...that hopefully will re-establish, renew and come out stronger with time.

This is gonna get really intense now with all the political "debate" and issues at hand that I do not really need to get into here.