Ginsburg calls independent judiciary the nation’s ‘hallmark and pride’

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg praised the judicial branch on Thursday, dubbing it the “hallmark and pride” of the U.S. 

“The judiciary is a reactive branch of government. It doesn’t generate the controversies that come before it — it’s reactive to what’s out there,” Ginsburg told The Forward editor Jane Eisner at an event at Adas Israel synagogue in Washington, D.C. 

{monads}”Judges do depend on the bar to explain the importance of an independent judiciary. It is our nation’s hallmark and pride, the federal judiciary,” Ginsburg said.

The justice was answering a question about whether she felt a need to respond when democratic norms were challenged. 

Ginsberg, who is 84, is currently on a nationwide speaking tour and missed President Trump’s maiden State of the Union address on Tuesday when she addressed an audience at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. 

The justice has been critical of President Trump in the past, referring to candidate Trump as a “faker” in 2016, and said she could not imagine what the country would be like with Trump as president. 

The administration has signaled a desire to fill U.S. courts with conservative-leaning judges; however, Ginsberg said last month she plans to stay on the nation’s highest court for as long as she is able to do her job. 

“As long as I can do the job full steam, I will be here,” she said.