Ginsburg falls asleep during Texas redistricting case

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

...get the train ready! 

[J-Mann]

HA! Really?

[phk]

I want a link sir.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

"The subject matter was extremely technical, and near the end of the argument Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dozed in her chair. Justices David Souter and Samuel Alito, who flank the 72-year-old, looked at her but did not give her a nudge."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060301/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_texas_redistricting;_ylt=AmkUNjgpw2hdAuhIfnxZ1bxMEP0E;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

[MasterJedi]

Wimp!

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

[Storebought]

The funniest part is that no other Justice deigned to wake the poor woman up.

OTOH, I think that if Souter did give her a nudge or two, George Bush will be vetting candidates for the third vacancy of the Supreme Court right now.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The funniest part is that no other Justice deigned to wake the poor woman up.

OTOH, I think that if Souter did give her a nudge or two, George Bush will be vetting candidates for the third vacancy of the Supreme Court right now.

Naw, Ginsburg wouldn't kill Souter.

[MODU]

hahaha . . . now that's funny.  Sad thing is, I don't blame her.  After hearing people talk technicals all day long, I too find myself getting distracted/bored.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

IIRC, instead of the usual hour of argument, the Court gave this case two hours.  Still, the question is going to have to be asked, will Ginsberg rather than Stevens be the next vacancy?

[angus]

Ginsburg fell asleep?  Who wouldn't?  Actually, that battle ax was already pretty tired when they hired her.  They'll be luck to get a full second decade out of her.

Did you watch Ray Suarez tonight, jmfcst?  They did about a 15 minute segment on this.  Good arguments on both sides.  Personally, I have to say what Delay and company did was despicable, and for political gain, and I posted about it often.  And I still think he's a creep.  But I do understand what they were trying to do.  Anyway, the guest was explaining what Texas' solicitor general Cruz job is:  try to explain how it's not really the supreme court's duty to sort out a mid-decade redistricting, but rather congress' job.  Interesting point I thought.  So does the unconstitutionality of a mid-decade redistricting done solely for the purpose of partisan gain in the House trump the fact that this matter, if there is one, ought to be settled by Congress, or not?  That seems to be the state's argument.  It's interesting, but not that interesting.  Clearly, you can see why a tired old broad like Ginsburg would zone out.

[Jake]

Haha, but to be fair, I would do the same. Most of them called up George to ask how to vote anyway.

[Alcon]

I wouldn't wake her up either.  I'd envy her.

[MODU]

It doesn't matter if all of you would do the same, she's supposed to be one of the most qualified people in the world for the job, not you.  This is very embarrasing and hardly what I would like to see from a Supreme Court Justice.

True, but she's also old (and human).  hehehe

[A18]

IIRC, instead of the usual hour of argument, the Court gave this case two hours.  Still, the question is going to have to be asked, will Ginsberg rather than Stevens be the next vacancy?

Ginsburg

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Ginsberg, Ginsburg, Ginsbourg, it's all the same ain't it?

[ATFFL]

Ginsberg, Ginsburg, Ginsbourg, it's all the same ain't it?

You will become one with the Gins-borg.

[Gabu]

If it was as technical as it sounds, I probably would get horribly bored too.  She also may have been lacking sleep due to personal issues that invoked stress or whatever.

I wouldn't be so quick to scold her before all the facts are on the table.  If she honestly was just slacking and not doing her job because she didn't feel like it, then scold away, but I doubt it.

[J-Mann]

I'd have to agree with Fezzy that it's quite unprofessional and out-of-character for a Supreme Court justice to fall asleep (or "doze") during a case, but at the same time, the woman's only human.  There probably isn't a person on this board that hasn't shut their eyes for a few minutes during work or in class.  Admittedly, we're not one of only nine people setting constitutional precedent, but I certainly know the feeling of losing attention and drifting off when someone is babbling on about technicalities.

[ag]

I remember in grad school whenever I'd go to one of the seminars, an elderly professor (of course, he was then younger than Ginsburg is now, but he seemed ancient compared with other faculty members) would nearly always seem to be asleep. He'd first slump, then dose, then, to all appearances, be deaply asleep, almost snorring. Until the moment, that is, that he'd wake up and ask a question that would show that he follows and understads what's going on in the room better than anyone else of those present, including the speaker. Don't underestimate a dosing elder - there is nothing that unusual in somebody dosing during a long a technical seminar or argument.

[Citizen James]

So she's Reaganesque.

</spin>

[opebo]

Obviously jmfcst posted this topic because he is correlating a tendency to doze with the proximity of death.  This is a rather tenuous connection to make. 

As long as she remains alive, she can doze as much as she likes.  After all, she needn't actually hear any cases - the correct vote can be obtained by simply voting the opposite of Scalia, Thomas, and co. 

[AkSaber]

I wouldn't wake her up either.  I'd envy her.

Hehehe. So would I.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Court artist paints what he/she viewed as Ginsburg slept:



That is not simply nodding-off, that is passing out.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Typical crazy hoping that she dies soon so that Bush gets to give complete control of the court to batsh**t crazy wingnuts.