Ginsburg defends dissents — oral ones, too
on Oct 23, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking out on the record number of dissenting opinions announced orally at the Court’s last Term, said that she would “continue to give voice to my dissent if, in my judgment, the Court veers in the wrong direction when important matters are at stake.” She stressed, though, that it would not be routine for her to “speak out” — orally or in writing — but only on matters she considers truly important. Quoting Judge Jerome Frank on the practice of Justice Louis Brandeis of sometimes avoiding dissenting opinions altogether, Justice Ginsburg said that Brandeis’ “shots [were] all the harder because he chose his ground.”
The text of her 20th annual Leo and Berry Eizenstat Lecture, titled “The Role of Dissenting Opinions” and delivered in Atlanta on Sunday, can be found here. It was released by the Court Tuesday.
