Who Goes to SOTU Sober? Not Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justice had vowed to 'stay away from the wine' this year, but oh well
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 13, 2015 12:22 PM CST
Who Goes to SOTU Sober? Not Ruth Bader Ginsburg
At a panel discussion on Thursday, Ruth Bader Ginsburg talked about nodding off during the State of the Union speech.   (CNN)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been making headlines lately, from her proclamations that America can handle gay marriage to inspiring a University of Maryland student's elaborate upper-arm tattoo. Yesterday the Supreme Court justice cleared up a more sopoforic scandal that's been circulating: her alleged nap during President Obama's State of the Union address in January. At a Smithsonian Associates event last night featuring Ginsburg and colleague Antonin Scalia, RBG copped to dropping off, which she admitted "I often do," per CNN. "The audience for the most part is awake because they are bobbing up and down and we sit there, stone faced," she said. "But we're not, at least I was not, 100% sober." She said that at a dinner before the SOTU, "Justice Kennedy brought in … it was an Opus something or other, very fine California wine. … I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from the wine, but in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine."

It's not the first time Ginsburg has succumbed to the SOTU sandman: She once told the Washington Post that it was (again) a "very good California wine" (again) provided by Justice Kennedy that caused her to doze off at the 2013 address, as per the Hill. No matter what state of consciousness she's in, Ginsburg has solid support from her fellow Supremes, even if they might be starting to fall down on the job. "David Souter, when he was on the court, he was on one side and he had an acute sense of when I was about to [nod off]," Ginsburg told the panel, per the Blaze. "Now I have Justice Kennedy on one side, Justice Breyer, and they're sort of timid about it." Meanwhile, Justice Scalia said at last night's event that he avoids the SOTU snoozefest altogether, admitting he stopped going years ago, per CNN. (Looks like Ginsburg's recent heart surgery isn't keeping her down.)

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