Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesn't give a shit

Either that, or else she’s senile, or else I am wildly naive about the Supreme Court.

The SC is currently hearing a very important case on gerrymandering. At issue is what, if any restrictions there should be on how (and how often) state legislatures can redraw congressional districts.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, however, seems to find the case not so important: [

](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102267.html)Nobody in the media is making a big deal about this, so maybe I’m completely wrong here – doper lawyers can correct me – but it seems to me that falling asleep during arguments is a pretty lousy thing for a judge to be doing.

I have no doubt that the part of argument she missed was complicated and boring; but she’s a judge for crying out loud – the law is complicated and boring, which is what we have professional lawyers and judges for. And I have no doubt that the part she slept through was not going to be decisive in her ruling (of course, how would she know?). But if nothing else, show a little respect for the office you hold. If you can’t at least comport yourself with the dignity befitting it, you don’t belong there anymore.
Of course, she won’t resign as long is there is a Republican in office … so an added “fuck you” to all those who aided in the politicization of the judiciary.

link

Lame.

Historically, do Justices normally resign after they fall asleep in court? I didn’t know recent partisanship eliminated that tradition.

It’s embarrassing and there’s nothing good to say about it (unless you find her honesty refreshing), but your reaction seems a little out of proportion to what happened. Also- I’m not a doctor, of course, but falling asleep is not as sign of senility as far as I know.

She’s a Supreme Court Jurist. If falling asleep during arguments brought before the Court aren’t a big deal, then the Court itself and cases before it aren’t a big deal. And it that’s the case what the hell does it matter whom serves on the Court.
I wonder how a thread like this would’ve started out if it was Thomas or Scalia that fell asleep during proceedings. If you can’t stay awake working the hours the Justices do for the most part, maybe you shouldn’t have a position that wields that much power.
Just saying…

It’s a lifetime appointment. Suck it.

Ah, that old warhorse, the Presumed Hypocrisy Argument. Airtight as ever, duffer.

If she was out drinking until 4 a.m. the previous day, I might agree that she doesn’t take her job seriously. But a 15-minute nap, especially when the OP of the Pit Thread admits it’s unlikely to make any kind of difference in the case, just doesn’t freak me out. Shit happens, and besides, she’s 72. And before we get into that, although perhaps term limits on the Court are an okay idea, she’s only a couple of years older than most of her colleagues.

Doesn’t freak me out either. I admit I’m a bit ignorant on arguments brought to the Supreme Court. Are the arguments scripted? Is there a template they follow that states there will be certain times when people are just talking and not saying anything that may be germaine to the case? If that’s the case I can see the point of the proceedings at that time no being important.

I always thought if jurors in a lesser court should take into account all the facts of a case, then maybe a judge should do the same. but if falling asleep during a hearing isn’t a big deal, then I stand corrected.

Oral arguments are important, but they are not crucial. The orals are transcribed and a justice who is absent due to illness, for example, has access to those transcripts as well as all the rest of the information in the briefs.

In the recent notorious imminent domain case, both Rehnquist and Stevens were absent during the orals and both participated in the decision. (Rehnquist was absent from several oral presentations, but did not recuse himself from any decision based on that absence, that I am aware.)

So, tell us how you feel about Roberts and Alito. Would you say suck it? :slight_smile:

Yeah, this napping thing looks bad, but lets face it. The SCOTUS is more like an old folks home than anything else. Rehnquist was on his deathbed and he wouldn’t retire. We need some mandatory retirement ages for these ossified jurists. Lieftime is one thing, but when you’re nothing more than the walking dead, it’s time to step down.

There ya go. I stand corrected.

Er, that was in response to tomndebb.

Absolutely. Renquest was practically in a coma near the end. I’m sure he must have zoned out once in a while during arguments. I didn’t complain. I think that these justices already have a pretty good idea of what the arguments are going to be anyway and they can review them at their leisure. She was only out for 15 minutes and it’s not like she was flying a plane or anything.

Judges (and defense attorneys) are allowed to sleep through MURDER trials.

CMC

There you go bringing up OJ!

BTW, can we get a cite? This would be interesting.

How many cases did he hear while in the coma? Wasn’t the Court recessed during that time?
And really, if the plane is at 36,000 feet with a copilot, so what if the pilot naps? I’d rather he be fresh for the landing than telling me we’re over the Hoover Dam at 3 am.

Ask and ye shall receive,
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](http://www.schr.org/reports/docs/champion/)[

]("Case Open: No physical evidence. No witnesses. A recanted confession. So why is Max Soffar still on death row?")[

](Page Not Found » Search » Washington Policy Center)[

](http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/02/18/another_sleeping_complaint_surfaces_against_judge/)

CMC

Ronald Reagan would nap at Cabinet meetings. They probably weren’t very interesting anyway.

I’m not sure what the policy should be regarding the elderly in high office.

In other (2001) news "A US appeals court has ruled that a man on death row should have a new trial because his lawyer fell asleep during the original murder trial.

Jurors and court officials agreed that lawyer Joe Cannon dozed off up to 10 times for as long as 10 minutes each during Calvin Burdine’s 1984 trial in Texas… In October 2000, a lower court had ruled that although Mr Cannon had fallen asleep, it had not been during important bits of the trial and therefore the murder conviction and death sentence were upheld."

On preview, aw jeez: beat me to it!

So in other words, #3? :wink:

I’m quite certain Justice Ginsburg is not senile. However, it is fairly well known that she’s in rather poor health.

I certainly don’t wish her any harm, but when Supreme Court pundits talk about a possible third Bush appointment, they often have her in mind.