B.I.G. and R.G.B.
Ginsburg came to be known as “The Notorious RBG,” a play on the name of the rapper ”The Notorious B.I.G.” Ginsburg liked to note they had one important thing in common: Both were born and bred in Brooklyn, New York.
When asked for advice
Ginsburg often dispensed a piece of wisdom her mother-in-law gave her on her wedding day. The secret to a happy marriage is this: “Sometimes it helps to be a little deaf.” Ginsburg said it was excellent advice in dealing with her colleagues on the court, too.
Justice Antonin Scalia
The genuine friendship between the liberal Ginsburg and conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016, puzzled many audiences. Ginsburg explained: “The number one reason why I loved Justice Scalia so is he made me laugh.”
The two shared a love of opera. And they were close enough that their families spent New Year’s together. Scalia sometimes called to point out grammar errors in Ginsburg’s opinion drafts. Ginsburg, for her part, sometimes told him: “This opinion is so overheated, you’d be more persuasive if you toned it down.” She added: “He never listened to that.”
Ginsburg often described a famous picture of the two of them riding an elephant together in India, the heavyset Scalia in front and diminutive Ginsburg in the rear. Ginsburg’s feminist friends were horrified. Why was she in the back? Weight distribution, she explained.
Equal parenting
Ginsburg’s son, James, was what she called a “lively child,” and she often got calls from his New York City school about his latest caper. Ginsburg finally told the school: “This child has two parents. Please alternate calls.” It was Ginsburg’s husband’s turn, she said.
So Ginsburg’s husband went to the school and was told James had “stolen the elevator,” taking a group of kindergartners for a ride.
But “after the elevator incident, the calls came barely once a semester,” Ginsburg noted, and not because James was any better behaved. “They were much more reluctant to take a man away from his work than a woman,” Ginsburg explained.
Her achievements
Ginsburg’s mother, Celia Bader, who died the day before Ginsburg graduated from high school, never attended college but worked as a bookkeeper. Ginsburg sometimes asked audiences: “What’s the difference between a bookkeeper in New York’s Garment District and a U.S. Supreme Court justice?” Her answer: “One generation.”
Changing the Constitution
When asked how she might change the Constitution if given the opportunity, Ginsburg pointed to the effort in the 1970s to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which fell three states short of ratification. Ginsburg said passing it was still a good idea.
“I have three granddaughters,” Ginsburg said. “And I’d like to be able to take out my pocket Constitution and say that the equal citizenship stature of men and women is a fundamental tenet of our society.”
The Supreme Court’s women
Ginsburg, the second female justice, was sometimes asked when there would be enough women on the Supreme Court. Her response: “When there are nine.” She explained: “Some people are taken aback until they remember that for most of our country’s history there were only men on the high court bench.”