Christopher Scalia’s Remarks on the Death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 

Here is a memorial comment from Justice Scalia’s son.

I’m very sad to hear about the passing of my parents’ good friend, and my father’s wonderful colleague, Justice Ginsburg. May her memory be a blessing. I’d like to share a couple of passages that convey what she meant to my dad.
This is from a roast he delivered for her 10th anniversary on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. They’d been colleagues on that court until he went to the Supreme Court; she hadn’t joined him there yet—and he missed her.

“That’s all I have to say by way of roasting, but I will conclude with a few earnest comments. I have missed Ruth very much since leaving the Court of Appeals. She was the best of colleagues, as she is the best of friends. I wish her a hundred years.”

This is a story that Judge Jeffrey Sutton shares about an encounter late in my dad’s life, when he bought his friend Ruth two dozen roses for her birthday. “Some things in life are more important than votes.”

“During one of my last visits with Justice Scalia, I saw striking evidence of the Scalia-Ginsberg relationship. As I got up to leave his chambers, he pointed to two dozen roses on his table and noted that he needed to take them down to ‘Ruth’ for her birthday. ‘Wow’, I said, ‘I doubt I have given a total of 24 roses to my wife in almost thirty years of marriage.’ ‘You ought to try it some time’, he retorted. Unwilling to give him the last word, I pushed back: ‘So what good have all these roses done for you?’ Name one five-four case of any significance where you got Justice Ginsburg’s vote.’ ‘Some things,’ he answered, ‘are more important than votes.’ I let him have the last word.”

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  1. Mark Camp Member
    Mark Camp
    @MarkCamp

    Note: if you wish to speak ill of the dead, or talk about the politics attendant to Justice Ginsburg’s death, there is another thread already dedicated to those things.  You have no reason to make such Comments here and I ask that you do me the favor of refraining from it.

    • #1
  2. Gwen Novak Member
    Gwen Novak
    @GwenNovak

    Thank you for posting this.

    • #2
  3. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Condolences to her family that knew her better than anyone else could know.

    • #3
  4. Limestone Cowboy Coolidge
    Limestone Cowboy
    @LimestoneCowboy

    Mark Camp (View Comment):

    Note: if you wish to speak ill of the dead, or talk about the politics attendant to Justice Ginsburg’s death, there is another thread already dedicated to those things. You have no reason to make such Comments here and I ask that you do me the favor of refraining from it.

    Mark, a classy post and even classier comment. Thank you.

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Blessings on her family and friends.

    • #5
  6. Blondie Thatcher
    Blondie
    @Blondie

    A wonderful post and an example we all would do well to try and follow. May her family be comforted in the fact that she is at peace and no longer suffering. 

    • #6
  7. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    I always thought there was (eternal) hope for Justice Ginsburg, given the love Justice Scalia had for her — and she for him. RIP

    • #7
  8. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    What stands out is the friendship. I hope they make a movie out of it like the Two Popes.

    • #8
  9. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Thank you for sharing this. 

    RBG and Scalia as friends set an example for all. 

    • #9
  10. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    Mark Camp (View Comment):

    Note: if you wish to speak ill of the dead, or talk about the politics attendant to Justice Ginsburg’s death, there is another thread already dedicated to those things. You have no reason to make such Comments here and I ask that you do me the favor of refraining from it.

    Even if we do so respectfully? 

    Justice Ginsburg made public her desire to fill the vacancy left by her friend’s death. We should honor her wishes.

     

    • #10
  11. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Instugator (View Comment):
    Justice Ginsburg made public her desire to fill the vacancy left by her friend’s death. We should honor her wishes.

    What do you mean. Wasn’t her last  wish,

    “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Ginsburg said in a statement dictated to her granddaughter, Clara Spera, according to NPR.”

     

    • #11
  12. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    From PJ Media

    Ginsburg publicly called on the Senate to go through with the nomination.

    “That’s their job,” she said in July 2016. “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the President stops being President in his last year.”

    “Eight is not a good number for a collegial body that sometimes disagrees,” Ginsburg said on the issue a few months later during an event at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington.

    Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was with her, agreed. “I think we hope there will be nine as quickly as possible.”

    Justice Scalia passed away in Feb 2016.

    • #12
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