Justice Ginsburg bemoans partisan divide in Congress
https://www.yahoo.com/news/justice-ginsburg-bemoans-partisan-divide-congress-083735310.html
JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed hope the traditional "bipartisan spirit" of congressional hearings for judges will once again prevail in Washington, rather than the votes of recent years that have mostly divided along party lines.
Speaking at a Jerusalem cinema on Thursday after the screening of "RBG," the breakout hit documentary about her life and career, Ginsburg said she would not address past or present personnel changes on the court, in apparent reference to Justice Anthony Kennedy's upcoming retirement.
But the liberal icon did bemoan how partisan the process of picking a justice has become.
"I was considered by some a controversial person because of my affiliation with the American Civil Liberties Union," she said about her 1993 confirmation hearings. "There wasn't a single question asked of me during the hearings about my ACLU connections. The vote was 96-3.
"When Justice Breyer was nominated the next year the vote for him was also in the 90s. Since then the Senate has tended to divide along party lines and I think that's unfortunate," she continued. "During my confirmation hearings, perhaps my biggest supporter was Orrin Hatch, the Republican senator from Utah. I hope someday we will get back to the bipartisan spirit prevailing with respect to the confirmation of judges."
Ginsburg is in Israel to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Genesis Prize Foundation, a prominent Jewish organization. The 85-year-old Ginsburg was just the second female Supreme Court justice and often cites her Jewish heritage as a source for her love of learning and sensitivity to the plight of minorities.
GINSBURG IN ISRAEL