SHINEDOWN's BRENT SMITH Recalls His Near-Encounter With RUTH BADER GINSBURG

SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith has paid tribute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday (September 18) due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer. She was 87.

On Saturday (September 19),Smith took to his Instagram to write: "1 year ago I was in Washington D.C. at Dulles International Airport. I had a layover, and was invited to hang out in a private lounge. I remember grabbing a cup of coffee, and sitting down. Interestingly enough I noticed the person sitting across from me was reading a newspaper spread out arm to arm. Something else I noticed was that there were A LOT of secret service surrounding this individual. I thought to myself who could it be. A few moments went by, and one of the secret service members said 'OK everyone they are ready for her.' A young lady came over to the individual sitting across from me, and said 'Are you ready Ruth'... The newspaper folded and there she was.

"I must tell you I have had the honor of being in the presence of some extraordinary people, but in that moment I was awestruck.

"I encourage everyone to learn about #ruthbaderginsburg and how ground breaking her ideas were, and still are to this day. Godspeed 🙏

"Ruth Bader Ginsburg / 1933-2020
Rest In Power, and in Peace."

Ginsburg graduated from Columbia Law School, going on to become a staunch courtroom advocate for the fair treatment of women and working with the ACLU's Women's Rights Project. She was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1980 and appointed to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

The justice, who sat on the bench for 27 years, was the second woman confirmed to the top court.

Supreme Court justices serve for life or until they choose to retire, and supporters have expressed concern that a more conservative judge might replace her while President Donald Trump, a Republican, remains in office.

On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he will hold a vote on Trump's nominee to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Ginsburg on the Supreme Court despite the fact that, in the days before she died, Ginsburg reportedly told her granddaughter that it was her wish that she not be replaced before Inauguration Day.

"My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed," Ginsburg reportedly said.

McConnell blocked former President Obama's Supreme Court pick from receiving a confirmation hearing after Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, the year of the last presidential election. At the time, he and other GOP lawmakers maintained that a Supreme Court vacancy should not be filled the same year as a presidential race.