Ahead of Kavanaugh Hearing, Ginsburg Praises ‘Women Coming Together in Numbers’ with ‘#MeToo Complaints’

WASHINGTON – Ahead of Thursday’s hearing on sexual misconduct allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg applauded “women coming together in numbers” with #MeToo reports.

“I am really turned on by this #MeToo because these #MeToo complaints are –  every woman of my vintage has not just one story but many stories, but we thought there’s nothing you could do about it, boys will be boys, so let’s find a way to get out of it. #MeToo was also an example of women coming together in numbers, so it was one complaint and then one after another the complaints mounted, so women nowadays are not silent about bad behavior,” Ginsburg said during a Georgetown University Law Center event with first-year students on Wednesday, the evening before the hearing with Kavanaugh and one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, was set to take place.

“But what Justice O’Connor said, she said women have to get out there and do things that make an impressive show. The more women that are out there doing things, the more women will be encouraged to do things and we will all be better off – women – men, women and children,” she added.

Earlier in the onstage discussion, Ginsburg said women accomplish more in groups.

“There is strength in numbers,” she said.

William Treanor, the dean of Georgetown Law School who served as the moderator, did not directly ask Ginsburg about the Kavanaugh allegations.

Ginsburg said she misses late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in 2016.

“Do I think it’s possible for people who hold different political views to genuinely not simply respect, but have affection for one another? Yes, I believe it’s possible. One thing that was very important to me was to understand what Justice Scalia’s position was,” she said. “If you are going to be on the other side, you should be well-informed of what the opposite view is, and Scalia was eloquent in explaining his text-based interpretation of statutes including the Constitution. What was great about our friendship is Justice Scalia was a very funny man.”

“I miss him very much,” she added.

Referring to a portion of the Scalia/Ginsburg opera, Ginsburg said, “Dear Justice Scalia, you’re searching for problems that don’t have easy answers, but the great thing about our Constitution is that, like our society, it can evolve, so that sets the differences between the two of us.”