Justice Ginsburg reflects on term, leadership role

WASHINGTON  In her new position as the most senior member of the Supreme Court's liberal wing, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been carving out a more prominent role among the nine justices and intensifying her efforts to influence colleagues.

Reflecting on the recently completed term during an interview with USA TODAY in her chambers this week, Ginsburg expressed regret about some cases the five-justice conservative majority controlled, saying of one, "I thought the court was not just wrong, but egregiously so."

Yet the 18-year veteran who has survived two bouts with cancer also voiced optimism about the direction of the court: "I'm eternally hopeful."

Ginsburg's new status on the court coincided with the death of her husband of 56 years, Martin, from cancer and with the historic addition of the court's third sitting female justice.

"It has felt distinctly different," she said about three women, who now include Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Observing that their varying seniority means the three women's seats are not clustered together, Ginsburg said, "I like the idea that we're all over the bench. It says women are here to stay."

During an hour-long interview, Ginsburg, 78, addressed her work and a concern about the politicization of the judiciary. "What I care most about I think most of my colleagues do, too," she said, "is that we want this institution to maintain the position that it has had in this system, where it is not considered a political branch of government."

Shed of the black robe and wearing a pastel-print dress and thin white cardigan, Ginsburg also talked about life since her husband's death and her own efforts to stay healthy, including twice-weekly workouts with a personal trainer.

She said she felt good and reiterated her vow to remain on the bench at least to match the tenure of Justice Louis Brandeis, who retired at age 82 in 1939, after almost 23 years. "I'm going to stay as long as I can do the job," she said. "I probably will at least equal him. But you have to take it year by year."

The current Supreme Court is deeply split and largely controlled by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. On the other side with Ginsburg are Justices Stephen Breyer and Sotomayor and Kagan.

Ginsburg was quick to note exceptions, when the five-justice conservative bloc did not prevail. "There are some 5-4 decisions this term that were not the usual" breakdown, she said. "Probably the decision that most annoyed the home crowd that Tony Kennedy belongs to is that California (prison) decision."

The decision, authored by Kennedy and joined by the four liberals, declared California prison overcrowding unconstitutional and dictated a 30,000 reduction in inmate population. Ginsburg described it as "stunning."

Still, Ginsburg often oversees dissenting statements, either keeping the responsibility for herself or assigning to another justice on the losing side.

She said she has become more attuned to when a case might need a vigorously stated contrary view. She said she also has stepped up her efforts to ensure that important legal issues percolating up from lower courts in petitions to the justices are discussed in the court's private conference.

Twice in the past term, Ginsburg took the uncommon step of reading portions of a dissenting opinion from the bench.

In her most passionate protest, she objected when the conservative bloc threw out a $14 million verdict won by a former Louisiana Death Row prisoner in a civil rights claim against prosecutors who had failed to turn over blood evidence that might have helped show his innocence.

"It was an instance of extreme injustice. I thought that the court was not just wrong but egregiously so," she said. She said she decided not simply to let the written statement speak for itself, as is the usual practice, to bring attention to a criminal justice system that "had misfired."

"I was doing it to influence my colleagues and (lower court) judges who could stop this kind of thing," she said of prosecutors' concealing exculpatory evidence.

At a time when Washington has become more polarized, Ginsburg expressed concern about the judiciary getting caught up in politics. She declined to say whether she thought any of her colleagues might be politically motivated. She did, however, lament Senate stalling of judicial nominations and escalating tit-for-tat by Democrats and Republicans through the years.

"It will take a real statesman to blow the whistle" to stop the pattern, she said. Ginsburg, who was nominated by President Clinton in 1993, was approved on a 96-3 vote. She said she doubted she would enjoy the same bipartisan support today.

In the year since her husband's June 27, 2010, death, Ginsburg, a former women's rights advocate, said she has been emboldened, not deterred, in her work, because of how much he had supported her. "I know that's what he would have wanted," she said of her redoubled sense of mission.

Ginsburg revealed sample pages from a soon-to-be-published cookbook that Martha-Ann Alito, Justice Samuel Alito's wife, helped initiate as a tribute to Martin, a tax lawyer who was known in the court family as an exceptional chef.

Ginsburg said her husband had kept meticulous track of his recipes, partly for the benefit of his wife who declined to take up the traditional role in the kitchen.

"Marty wrote his recipes for me," she said, "so not a step is left out."

Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to For more information about reprints & permissions , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com