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Ginsburg Wants Another Woman at High Court

Justice bemoans her male colleagues' 'lack of understanding'

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted May 6, 2009 7:28 AM CDT

(Newser) – Among the many people calling on Barack Obama to name a woman to fill his first Supreme Court vacancy, one voice stands out: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the sole female on the nation's highest bench. In a frank interview with USA Today, the justice says that some of her male colleagues failed to understand the humiliation of the teenager who was strip-searched by Arizona school officials in a recent case. "They have never been a 13-year-old girl," Ginsburg said.

Since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, Ginsburg says, the tone has changed at the court's conferences—so much so that she sometimes feels ignored by her fellow justices—and she has been forced to fight lonely battles on cases from the strip-searched student to wage discrimination. But the "worst part" is the image of only one female on the bench: "Young women are going to think, 'Can I really aspire to that kind of post?"

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (1)]

Barack Obama greets Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks during 2007 Gruber Justice Prize award ceremonies at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks to law students at Ohio State University reflecting on her years with the U.S. Supreme Court Friday, April 10, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks to students at New England Law in Boston Friday, March 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks to law students at Ohio State University to reflect on her years with the U.S. Supreme Court Friday, April 10, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

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Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. I don't say the split should be 50-50. It could be 60% men, 40% women, or the other way around. It shouldn't be that women are the exception. - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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Ginsburg Wants Another Woman at High Court