by Mark Silva
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who might rather have been an opera diva if she didn't posess a "sparrow''' voice, says the Supreme Court is the "most collegial' place where she ever has worked.
Sure they split 5-4 at times on some very big issues, she says, but they agree quite a lot. And they get along quite famously, the appointee of former President Bill Clinton says, at a juncture when President Barack Obama is getting his first appointment on the court.
Ginsburg, Columbia Law School Class of 1959, spoke at the Law School's Reunion 2009, where her class is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
"We all genuinely care about each other,'' she said of a court on which she has servved since 1993. "It's the most collegial place I have ever worked..."We agree more often than we disagree," she said. "There are more unanimous opinions ... than there are 5-4 splits. But we do divide sharply on many important issues."
Ginsburg was asked about her relationship with Justice David Souter, who will retire at the end of this term this year and whom Obama hopes to replace with federal appellate udge Sonia Sotomayor of New York.
"All of us love him and he loves the work and the collegiality, but he doesn't love the celebrity that comes with being a Supreme Court justice," she said..Ginsburg sits next to Souter on the court. So Souter had an important job, she said, especially when she had worked through the night. "David had the responsibility to give me a slight nudge if it looks like my eyes are closing."
If Ginsburg had a chance to be anything growing up, she also said, it would have been an "opera diva,... I am sad to say that I am what my public-school teachers called a sparrow, not a robin. So the next best thing was to become a lawyer."
Comments
Well, as BillyBob Clinton might say, that depends on what the definition of "collegial" is.
If you mean the formal politeness those fortunates who are members of illustrious private clubs extend to each other in the elevators or the locker rooms in the athletic department, or while waiting to be seated in the dining room, then, yes, they are probably collegial.
If you mean the kind of collaboration such as appertained in a hot summer in Philadelphia in 1776, or an intense 4 years at Los Alamos during WW II, well,
DOUBT IT.
Ruth is just waxing nostalgic as she prepares her letter of resignation to submit to Obama once the Wise Latina is confirmed.
Ruth is solid. Like Sandra.
Old School ladies.
Who know when to wear white gloves.
And how to change the subject at dinner when something unpleasant erupts.
Maybe that's Ruth's definition of "collegiality".
Posted by: ornery | June 20, 2009 11:59 PM