In blog posts over the weekend here and here we reported on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's interesting remarks at the annual conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. This morning there are even more gems from Ginsburg to report, contained in an op-ed column that appeared Sunday in the Concord Monitor in Souter's home state of New Hampshire.
She wrote fondly about her departing colleague, calling Souter a man who "thrives in his work, but does not like celebrity status." Souter was a great raconteur, she added, whose stories at the justices' conferences "helped relieve tensions."
But she acknowledged that Souter, whom she sits next to on the bench, was a special help "on mornings after a very long night at my desk." On such days, even as he was engaged in asking questions of the advocates, he kept an eye on her. "I could rely on him for a gentle tap on my arm when I was in danger of giving way to sleep."
Ginsburg also revealed that in the shuffle of office space that usually follows a retirement on the Court, she will be taking over Souter's space after he departs. "Though he will be many miles away," Ginsburg wrote, "the move will be a constant reminder of the prince of a man with whom I had the privilege to serve."
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