Advertisement

Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be first woman to lie in state at Capitol

September 22, 2020 at 1:57AM

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in repose at the Supreme Court and lie in state at the Capitol this week, providing the public an opportunity to pay their respects to the trailblazing judge.

The casket will arrive in front of the court just before 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, the court said. Ginsburg's family, close friends and members of the court will participate in a private ceremony in the court's Great Hall at 9:30 a.m.

The justice who died last Friday will then lie in repose under the portico at the top of the Supreme Court's front steps to allow for public viewing.

Ginsburg's former law clerks will serve as honorary pallbearers and will line the front steps as the casket arrives. Supreme Court police officers will serve as pallbearers.

On Friday morning, a formal ceremony for invited guests will be held at the Capitol. Her casket will lie atop the Lincoln Catafalque, the same platform built and used during the funeral of Abraham Lincoln after the 16th president was assassinated in 1865, in Statuary Hall, according to a statement from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Large crowds gathered outside the Supreme Court building Friday night after the news of Ginsburg's death broke, and thousands flooded the court again on Saturday night for a vigil featuring speeches from Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Thirty-four people have lain in state or honor at the Capitol since 1852. Ginsburg will be the first woman to lie in state, a distinction reserved for government officials. Civil rights icon Rosa Parks lay in honor at the Capitol in 2005, a distinction reserved for a select few private citizens.

The only other justice to lie in state was William Howard Taft, who served as chief justice after being president.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Ginsburg, 87, died after a long illness. She will be buried Sept. 29, after Yom Kippur, the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. She will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery alongside her husband of 56 years, Marty Ginsburg, who died in 2010.

CQ-Roll Call

about the writer

about the writer

More from Minnesota Star Tribune

See More
In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece

We respect the desire of some tipsters to remain anonymous, and have put in place ways to contact reporters and editors to ensure the communication will be private and secure.

Advertisement
Advertisement

To leave a comment, .

Advertisement