Courts & Crime

Justice Ginsburg was feeling no pain at State of the Union

By Michael Doyle - McClatchy Washington Bureau

February 13, 2015 12:02 PM

Secretary of State John Kerry talks with members of the Supreme Court, Jan. 20, 2015, before President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. From left, Chief Justice John Roberts, Kerry, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Stephen Breyer, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Secretary of State John Kerry talks with members of the Supreme Court, Jan. 20, 2015, before President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. From left, Chief Justice John Roberts, Kerry, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Stephen Breyer, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. AP
Secretary of State John Kerry talks with members of the Supreme Court, Jan. 20, 2015, before President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. From left, Chief Justice John Roberts, Kerry, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Stephen Breyer, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. AP

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has added to her street cred as the Notorious RBG, with the revelation that she had a glass or two of fine California wine prior to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech.

Which explains the nodding off.

Speaking Thursday at The George Washington University, along with Justice Antonin Scalia, Ginsburg explained what led up to her snoozing during President Barack Obama’s speech last month.

"The audience for the most part is awake because they are bobbing up and down and we sit there, stone faced," Ginsburg said. "But we're not, at least I was not, 100 percent sober.”

She blamed a wine Justice Anthony Kennedy had brought to dinner before hand. It was, she said, “an Opus something or other,” and it apparently worked wonders.

"I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from the wine,” Ginsburg said, “but the dinner was so delicious it needed wine."

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