Ginsburg: Bring On Sonia

Ruth Bader Ginsburg can't wait for Sonia Sotomayor to join her on the Supreme Court. In a lively Q&A with Emily Bazelon for the New York Times magazine, Ginsburg says she's tired of being the lone female justice. "It’s almost like being back in law school in 1956, when there were nine of us in a class of over 500...and you felt that every eye was on you. Every time you went to answer a question, you were answering for your entire sex." An 8-1 gender imbalance "just doesn’t look right in the year 2009."

Ginsburg dismissed as "ridiculous" the controversy over Sotomayor's "wise Latina" remark—"think of how many times you’ve said something that you didn’t get out quite right"—as well as the notion that Sotomayor can be a bully on the bench. Look at Scalia and Breyer, she said, adding, "She'll hold her own." Elsewhere, Ginsburg said the anti-abortion movement was "fighting a losing battle." And asked whether courts can help facilitate change for women, she said, "It’s not something a court can decree. A court can’t tell the man, 'You’ve got to do more than carry out the garbage.'" (More Ruth Bader Ginsburg stories.)