Justice Ginsburg

Fascinating article in the NY Times today about the new (and improved, I think) Justice Ginsburg. Are Alito and Roberts the final straws as far as she is concerned? It's an interesting idea that she is no longer willing to play nice and conciliatory, as she was when Rehnquist was CJ, and has become more and more alarmed at the behavior of the new guys on the block, so much so that she has delivered TWO oral dissents from the bench this term (more than during any other term).

I have written about the abortion decision dissent before in this blog (the post was called, if memory serves, "Enough Already"). Now, this week, she is again pointing out that laws designed to protect women are not necessarily enforced in a way that best protects women's interests anymore. This latest ruling (disclaimer -- I have not read the opinion, only news reports about it) apparently denied the right of a woman who worked for Goodyear to file a sex discrimination claim against them. Apparently she was routinely discriminated against (earning less than her male co-managers for many years), but according to the Court her claim was not filed in a timely matter, and the aim of the law is not to protect women, but to protect businesses from having to defend against stale claims. Since when do businesses need MORE protection from punishment for being involved in discriminatory behavior, especially blatant gender discrimination?

So here's a big shout-out to the Court's might minority -- Justices Ginsburg, Souter, Stevens, and Breyer. It was Ginsburg's dissent, but the fellas joined her in it (as they did in the abortion case), showing a very decent understanding for women's concerns and not giving in to the government or big business. I'm sure it has been really a hard decision for someone like Justice Ginsburg, who according to news articles puts a premium on decorum and tact, to issue her dissents orally. But thank goodness she did it, and thank goodness she didn't have to stand alone in doing so.