The Issue with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Begs the Question of

“What Happens If A Supreme Court Justice is Unable to Perform Their Duty?”

Nothing.

Supreme Court justices hold their positions until they retire, die, or are impeached. If a justice is in some way incapacitated or otherwise prevented from discharging their duties, there currently is no mechanism in the Constitution or for outside forces (i.e. Senate or Congress) to remove said justice from the bench.

Changing this would require a constitutional amendment

, so the prospects of this changing soon are not very high.

So if a justice is unable to perform their duties while still alive, there’s nothing to do but wait for the justice to either die or decide to retire.

I have been only able to find 1 example of incompetence in the SC justices and how it was handled =

Justice William O. Douglas. He had a stroke in 1974 at the age of 76. He refused to retire despite a resulting disability. Seven of the other justices voted to defer to the next term any decision in which his vote would make the difference. He didn’t retire for almost a year despite urging from other justices. After retirement he tried to serve in a senior judicial status, but the other justices refused to cooperate. His long and distinguished career was partially marred by his hanging on when he could no longer function effectively. Yet there was nothing the President, Congress, or other justices could do to force him to retire.

So……………Even if RBG is in a coma, she would still be considered alive and hold a seat. Chief Justice Roberts would have to be in the know of her health and/or any written instructions from RBG re her status. The fact that in Dec 2018 she stated she hoped to hang on until a Democratic Pres was sworn in to name her replacement says volumes.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-ruth-bader-ginsburgs-lung-cancerous-nodules-surgery-mean/