# Ruth Bader Ginsburg Award-Has it been corrupted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 18, 2024, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972 "2024-03-18T07:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/1 "2024-03-18T07:12:25Z")
An award originally intended to honor women that have accomplish great things when it comes to human rights is going this year to Musk, Murdoch, Milken, Stallone and Martha Stewart. [Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch among RBG Award winners : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1238921724/musk-murdoch-rbg-award) " Next month, the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation will present the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leadership Award to four men and Martha Stewart. Among the winners are two convicted felons, the founder of right-wing Fox News, and Elon Musk. Stewart, Musk, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Milken and Sylvester Stallone are the five “iconic” and “exceptional” recipients of the 2024 RBG Leadership Award, the organizing foundation said in a news release on Wednesday." Believe it or not her family isn’t exactly pleased with these selections: “The Ginsburg family says it was not informed of the changes in name or criteria for the award. It is pressing Opperman to remove Justice Ginsburg’s name from the award “unless the original award criteria, as accepted by Justice Ginsburg, are restored,” as Trevor Morrison, Ginsburg’s former law clerk, wrote in a letter to the foundation’s chair that spoke on behalf of the Ginsburg family.” Is this corruption of the original concept, or a natural extension? My vote is corruption, but what say you? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/2 "2024-03-18T07:35:07Z")
No surprise about the politics of the foundation’s director. _Julie Opperman according to Federal Election Commission filings, is a major Republican donor. In 2016, she donated $50,000 to Rebuilding America Now, a super PAC founded by Paul Manafort and Tom Barrack—two top Trump advisers—to support the Trump presidential campaign._ [Mother Jones](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/justice-ginsburgs-family-decries-bestowing-rbg-award-on-elon-musk-and-rupert-murdoch/#:~:text=Julie%20Opperman%20according%20to%20Federal,support%20the%20Trump%20presidential%20campaign.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/3 "2024-03-18T12:17:43Z")
Foundations typically have a board of directors that include people close to or related to the founder. The director is merely the hired day to day leader. Sort of how a corporation’s BoD should hire and control the corporation’s president. Makes me wonder who’s on the BoD and how they are selected. IOW, the director being Opperman is a symptom of something not a cause of it. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/4 "2024-03-18T13:58:51Z")
I believe Julie Opperman is the widow of the founder and the chair of the foundation (not the director) - which leads me to question why that foundation named an award after RBG to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/5 "2024-03-18T23:00:38Z")
Expensive posthumous trolling of RGB, possibly? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/6 "2024-03-19T00:42:22Z")
I heard this afternoon they backed out of the whole thing, in an effort to “avoid controversy.” ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/7 "2024-03-19T00:59:08Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I heard this afternoon they backed out of the whole thing, in an effort to “avoid controversy.” They cancelled the gala, but I think the award recipients stand as-is. [Here](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/statement-of-the-dwight-d-opperman-foundation-about-the-rbg-award-302092137.html) is the official statement from the foundation. The writing seems a little amateurish. > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Expensive posthumous trolling of RGB, possibly? With Milken on the list it has to be trolling, but why start this year? The recipients don’t seem to match the award’s previous [description](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/dwight-d-opperman-foundation,411856258/): > [@](#): > > Honor outstanding women leaders from all fields who possess The qualities and spirit of justice ginsburg’s legacy and whose exceptional passion, determination, leadership and record of accomplishment have resulted in The betterment of others in society. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/8 "2024-03-19T12:07:29Z")
IANA expert, but people who are famous, or their estates, retain some control over the use of the famous name. If the foundation refuses to operate in accordance with it’s namesake’s principles, perhaps Ginsburg’s family can withdraw their permission to use her name for their nonsense. Better of course to fire all the trolls from the board or executive roles and return the foundation and its award to its stated purpose. But sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/9 "2024-03-19T12:22:27Z")
Well, they didn’t even stick to the gender qualification, much less the other good ones. Sounds like trollish asshole behavior. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/10 "2024-03-19T12:52:13Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Sounds like trollish asshole behavior. Maybe as simple as “oh never mind what we arranged before, we give the award, it’s ours to name and give as we damn please.” With a strong foundation of “why do we have to honor an agreement with someone who’s dead?” because, you know, asses be asses. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/11 "2024-03-19T13:09:09Z")
From what I’ve read, RBG was lifelong friends with the foundation’s founder Dwight D. Opperman (creator of Westlaw), who passed away in 2013. She consented to the foundation creating the award in 2019 as a way to honor women in leadership. I have no idea what was actually signed that would govern the criteria and process for making the award. If I had to guess, I’d say that Julie Opperman decided that champaign-and-prime-rib dinners handing out awards to Agnes Gund and Diane von Furstenberg weren’t drawing the DC power crowd she wanted, and a compliant board agreed to honor “sexier” awardees. It’s interesting to note that Dwight Opperman’s own children (by his first wife) have disparaged the announced winners and said they have no role in the organization. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/12 "2024-03-19T19:07:39Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > If I had to guess, I’d say that Julie Opperman decided that champaign-and-prime-rib dinners handing out awards to Agnes Gund and Diane von Furstenberg weren’t drawing the DC power crowd she wanted, and a compliant board agreed to honor “sexier” awardees. Could be, but it seems like those choices are more confrontational than they needed to be. Why not just create another award and name it after the one of the recipients? It’s such a departure. I didn’t find much about past winners, but it seemed like one a year. Maybe the plan was for Stewart this year and then they tacked on a bunch of extras at the last minute. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/13 "2024-03-20T02:06:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is this corruption of the original concept, or a natural extension? My vote is corruption, but what say you? I say it’s a definite corruption. Tried to dig into this a bit. The Foundation website is down for revision. Found a link to a donation to the Library of Congress that has the following description: > [@](#): > > The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation was established by Dwight D. Opperman upon his sale of West Publishing Company where he was chairman and creator of WestLaw, the iconic legal information provider. Opperman, the most noted philanthropist of his day in the legal/judicial community, wished to continue his efforts in a private capacity. Prior to his passing in 2013, he appointed Julie Opperman as the sole controller of his self-funded charitable foundation. > **[Dwight D. Opperman Foundation Gives $1M to Reimagine Visitor Experience at...](https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-20-079)** > > The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation is donating $1 million to reimagine and enhance the visitor experience at the Library of Congress with a new orientation gallery, exhibitions and learning lab, the Library announced today.The Phoenix-based... So his widow is the sole controller of the foundation. No governing board. > [@](#): > > After half a century of supporting legal education, institutions and the American judiciary, as well as establishing the Devitt Award 38 year ago – the nation’s highest honor that is bestowed upon an Article III federal judge – Julie Opperman has extended that mission to the creation of the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award in early 2020. A decades-long friend of Dwight Opperman, Ginsburg had personally asked Julie to establish and carry out her sole legacy award. So this wasn’t something thought up by the foundation and named in Ginsburg’s honor, this was her request. A statement by Julie Opperman: > [@](#): > > This year we selected leaders in different fields. We honored men for the first time. We thought RBG’s teachings regarding EQUALITY should be practiced. We did not consider politics. Instead, we focused on leaders, who, in their own way, have made significant contributions to society. > **[STATEMENT OF THE DWIGHT D. OPPERMAN FOUNDATION ABOUT THE RBG AWARD](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/statement-of-the-dwight-d-opperman-foundation-about-the-rbg-award-302092137.html)** > > /PRNewswire/ -- The purpose of the RBG Leadership Award is to remember Justice Ginsburg and to honor her. She changed America by teaching us that all are EQUAL.... Ok. Let’s look at the justifications for these awardees. > **[RBG's family condemns the selection of recipients of an award named in her honor](https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1238921724/musk-murdoch-rbg-award)** > > The Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leadership Award was created to honor women who have created positive change in society. RBG's family says this year's change in selection criteria betrays her legacy. > [@](#): > > Milken, an investment banker famous for creating the junk bond market, was arrested in the late '80s for securities fraud. After he was released from prison, he built a reputation on his philanthropy. His philanthropy has been substantial donations for prostate cancer treatments. Sounds great, except he has prostate cancer himself, which lessens the philanthropy part. > **[2024 JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG LEADERSHIP AWARD HONORS ELON MUSK, SYLVESTER...](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2024-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-leadership-award-honors-elon-musk-sylvester-stallone-martha-stewart-michael-milken-and-rupert-murdoch-302087454.html)** > > /PRNewswire/ -- The prestigious JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG LEADERSHIP AWARD (RBG Award) will be presented by the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation to five iconic... > [@](#): > > Regardless of Elon Musk’s stratospheric accomplishments, in receiving the first RBG Award for Entrepreneurship, Musk’s focus is clear and unwavering: “Free speech is the foundation of democracy,” Musk said. In other words, Musk’s taking over twitter because it tried to limit false information and pernicious hate speech. > [@](#): > > Rupert Murdoch, the most iconic living legend in media, will be bestowed with the Media Mogul RBG Award. Wait so he’s being honored simply for being a successful media owner? No concern about the _quality_ of his media empire? That he promotes disinformation? That he’s had several judgements against him for sexual descrimination in his media companies? This award in Ginsburg’s name is supposed to be for women who show the quality and spirit of justice of Ginsburg’s legacy. Awarding Musk and especially Murdoch is a slap in the face to Ginsburg’s legacy. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/14 "2024-03-20T02:20:03Z")
Even the less controversial names on the list were corruptly chosen. Julie Opperman apparently has a long-standing association with Sylvester Stallone and his wife and Martha Stewart. All three have attended the awards in previous years. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/15 "2024-03-20T19:18:56Z")
Maybe, but there’s some justification for them. Ginsburg had a connection with Stallone, and Stewart was on her list of potential awardees. Of course, Stallone is a man, and that violates one of the groundrules. The point of the award was that Ginsburg faced and overcame challenges just for being a woman, pushing boundaries on what women could do. She wanted the award to celebrate other women who overcame the same kind of obstacles. She wanted to encourage women by celebrating success. Opening the award to men is a direct conflict with Ginsburg’s intent. Then you look at the ideology and politics. Julie Opperman claims that politics wasn’t considered, but that kinda misses the point that Ginsburg included that the recipients would display the “Qualities and Spirit of Justice” of her legacy. Measuring that is directly about politics and ideology. I mean, by Julie Opperman’s criteria, she could award the RBG Award to Clarence Thomas. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/16 "2024-03-20T20:22:32Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Julie Opperman apparently has a long-standing association with Sylvester Stallone and his wife and Martha Stewart. All three have attended the awards in previous years. Indeed, Stallone walked RBG down the aisle for the inaugural event: > [@](#): > > She was particularly excited about having Sylvester Stallone walk her onto the stage to the theme of Rocky—in an iconic American “champ to champ” moment. From Julie Opperman’s PR in Sep-2020. It includes the discussion with RBG that was the genesis of the award. > **[The "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award" Legacy](https://web.archive.org/web/20201005041337/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-woman-of-leadership-award-legacy-301134326.html)** > > /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Julie Opperman, Chairman of The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation. On March 15, 2019, I walked up the majestic... ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/17 "2024-03-21T21:25:27Z")
I read somewhere that the purpose of these awards is to have an excuse to throw a big party and invite a bunch celebrities that you and your rich friends can get to hobnob with. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/18 "2024-03-21T21:41:33Z")
Definitely not the original intention of this particular award. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/19 "2024-03-22T01:36:11Z")
Those jokers at the Onion, still knocking it out of the park! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972/20 "2024-03-22T01:39:46Z")
I think reality has surpassed The Onion when it comes to parody. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruth-bader-ginsburg-award-has-it-been-corrupted/998972.md?page=2)