‘She Will Live On’: Chief Justice John Roberts Delivers Powerful Eulogy For Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Chief Justice John Roberts delivered a powerful eulogy for Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, reflecting on her life and personality.
“Justice Ginsburg’s life was one of the many versions of the American dream. Her father was an immigrant from Odessa, her mother was born four months after her family arrived from Poland,” declared Roberts. “Her mother later worked as a bookkeeper in Brooklyn.”
“Ruth used to ask what is the difference between a bookkeeper in Brooklyn and a Supreme Court justice? Her answer? One generation,” he continued. “It has been said that Ruth wanted to be an opera virtuoso, but became a rock star instead.”
“Subjected to discrimination in law school and the job market because she was a woman, Ruth would grow to become the leading advocate fighting such discrimination in court,” Roberts went on, adding, “She was not an opera star, but she found her stage right behind me in our courtroom. There she won famous victories that helped move our nation closer to equal justice under law, to the extent that women are now a majority in law schools, not simply a handful.”
Roberts declared that Ginsburg’s “483 majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions will steer the court for decades,” before describing her as “tough, brave, a fighter, a winner, but also thoughtful, careful, compassionate, honest.”
“When it came to opera, insightful, passionate. When it came to sports, clueless,” he remarked to laughter.
Roberts also referenced the iconic photo of Ginsburg on an elephant in India with former Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016, claiming, “It captured so much of Ruth. There she was, doing something totally unexpected, just as she had in law school, where she was not only one of the few women, but a new mother to boot.”
“And in the photograph she is riding with a dear friend, a friend with totally divergent views. There is no indication in the photo that either was poised to push the other off,” he added.
Roberts also noted that Ginsburg’s battle with illness “encouraged others who have their own battles with illness, including employees here in the court,” before concluding, “I mention at the outset that Ruth’s passing weighed most heavily on her family and that is true, but the court was her family too. This building was her home too. Of course she will live on in what she did to improve the law and the lives of all of us, and yet still Ruth is gone, and we grieve.”
Watch above via MSNBC.