The charming RBG a judicial rock star
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a famous constitutional litigator long before she became the second woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, in 1993. However, that did not mean she was unapproachable.
In the summer of 1995, when I invited her and her husband, Marty Ginsburg, to teach in the St. Mary’s University School of Law’s program in Innsbruck, Austria, it was by means of a “cold call” letter. I had never met them before.
Nevertheless, Ginsburg quickly dispatched an enthusiastic acceptance. She was happy to accept based “on the high recommendation of my Chief (Chief Justice William Rehnquist) and colleagues ( Justices Antonin Scalia and John Paul Stevens).” Rehnquist, Scalia and Stevens had all recently taught for St. Mary’s in Innsbruck.
Ginsburg gave several lectures on constitutional law and the challenges women face in building a legal career. Marty Ginsburg taught a course on international tax law. I was not surprised that Marty Ginsburg attended Justice
Ginsburg’s lectures, but I found it telling that Justice Ginsburg sat through all 10 of her husband’s tax classes. They were a devoted, perfectly matched couple.
Outside of the classroom, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an energetic traveler. One day, I said we could go horseback riding, to see a picturesque mountain village or to an interesting museum. She said, “Let’s do all three.”
On another day, two colleagues and I took the Ginsburgs hiking in the Alps. When we met at the cable car station, I was alarmed that Marty Ginsburg was wearing penny loafers and Justice Ginsburg was wearing a fragile-looking pair of brand-new white tennis shoes. I gave the Ginsburgs walking sticks to use on the hike. We had an excellent excursion, except that I found it nerve-wracking to walk behind the justice, thinking that at any moment she would make a misstep, slide down the mountain and change the course of American history.
One evening, my colleague, St. Mary’s professor of law Geary Reamey, and I met the Ginsburgs at a restaurant. The couple recounted how she had been the “stealth candidate” for the vacancy that arose on the Supreme Court in 1993, ultimately eclipsing many other candidates. It was clear they enjoyed recounting the tale as much as Reamey and I enjoyed hearing it.
After returning to the United States, Ginsburg was a guest of honor at a St. Mary’s law alumni reception in Washington, D.C. Like a politician, she worked the crowd. The event was held in a very appropriate place, a historic home across the street from the Supreme Court, which is now the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument and houses a museum celebrating women’s suffrage and equal rights.
Over the years, I saw Ginsburg at the Supreme Court Fellows Program annual dinners. I had been a fellow at the court in 1988-89 and had assisted the chief justice with his duties as head of the judicial branch.
Sometimes at the dinners, Ginsburg and I were seated together. On one occasion, I asked Ginsburg, who had clearly been the victim of gender discrimination early in her career, when the discrimination stopped. What she said made clear that it had not stopped, but she did not offer details.
On another occasion, I was talking to a friend at a reception and asked if I could list this person as a reference. Before my friend could respond, Ginsburg, who had overheard the conversation, interrupted and said, “Please, use me for a reference.”
Serious, thoughtful, immensely intelligent and quiet, Ginsburg ultimately developed into something of a rock star — an icon of pop culture. She was widely known as “The Notorious RBG” and was the subject of books, movies and lines of apparel. Ginsburg was indifferent to her rock star status but played along with quiet good humor.
About five years ago, I attended a speech that she gave at George Washington University, a few blocks from the White House. Before Ginsburg walked onto the stage, the music was pumping, the lights were flashing, and it looked like a concert. The crowd roared its approval while Ginsburg slowly walked onto the stage and again when she concluded her remarks.
I like to remember her that way: the judicial rock star she proved to be.