Monday, September 21, 2020

SCOTUS Press Release: RBG to lie in repose

 Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in repose at the Supreme Court of the United States on Wednesday, September 23, and Thursday, September 24. The casket will arrive in front of the Court just before 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. A private ceremony will take place in the Great Hall at 9:30 a.m. attended by Justice Ginsburg’s family, close friends, and members of the Court. Following the private ceremony inside, Justice Ginsburg will lie in repose under the Portico at the top of the front steps of the Building to allow for public viewing outdoors. Press coverage will be pooled and details will be provided in a separate media advisory.

Former law clerks to Justice Ginsburg will serve as honorary pallbearers and will line the front steps as the casket arrives. Supreme Court police officers will serve as pallbearers. The Justices will remain inside the Great Hall where the casket will be placed on the Lincoln Catafalque, which has been loaned to the Court by the U.S. Congress for the ceremony. A 2016 portrait of Justice Ginsburg by Constance P. Beaty will be on display in the Great Hall.

The public is invited to pay respects in front of the Building from approximately 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23, and from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Thursday, September 24. Further guidance regarding the public viewing will be available on the homepage of the Court’s website.

A private interment service will be held next week at Arlington National Cemetery.

[Also from the NYTThe justice will also lie in state in the United States Capitol, the first woman in American history to be so honored, and her coffin will be placed on the same catafalque that bore the body of President Abraham Lincoln, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Monday. The only other member of the Supreme Court ever to lie in state at the Capitol was William Howard Taft, who had served as president before becoming chief justice.]