Justice Ginsburg 'Wasn't 100 Percent Sober' at Obama's State of the Union Address
The justices drank wine together before the speech.

Say what you will about the jurisprudence of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but there's no question that she's got her priorities straight when it comes to the annual political spectacle known as the State of the Union Address. As The Hill reports, on the night of President Obama's big speech this year, Ginsburg got a little drunk and fell asleep while the president droned on and on:
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg admits to sharing some wine with her colleagues and not being "100 percent sober" for President Obama's State of the Union address in January.
During Obama's speech, which lasted just under an hour, many viewers on social media pointed out that the 81-year-old liberal justice appeared to be snoozing.
"The audience for the most part is awake, because they're bobbing up and down, and we sit there, stone-faced, sober judges. But we're not, at least I wasn't, 100 percent sober," Ginsburg said during a talk at George Washington University on Thursday night, according to a report by The Blaze.
"Because before we went to the State of the Union, Justice Kennedy brought in … it was an Opus something or other, very fine California wine, and I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from the wine, but in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine," Ginsburg said.
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Justice Kennedy, you dog!
I bet Ginsburg doesn't remember the "conference in chambers" following the speech.
More proof that Kennedy is the coolest least uncool Justice.
Where's my...
+1 beloved commenter
Why the hell do they even attend those snoozefests?
Because the screaming my the authority worshipers after their failure to attend would give the president the leave he needed to ignore their rulings. The supreme court doesn't have a enforcement branch.
+1 Andrew Jackson
I always thought they were all drunk. I mean, why else would they clap so much?
I always figured the president's opening act was a hypnotist who convinced everyone that they were seals.
Like this.
Little-known fact: Seals have a gland that generates ethyl alcohol for them, leaving them in a perpetual state of drunkenness.
They would never survive, unless they went a little crazy.
this undoubtedly leads to Drunk Diving.
I did some of that in Cozumel last year. It was fun. Warm water, nice current, just drifting along and looking at stuff. Very relaxing, and I could pee any time I wanted.
Maybe they were trying to turn him off.
Nice try, but I still despise Ruth Bader Ginsberg and look forward with un-Christian glee to the time she burns in hell for her sins against mankind.
OK, that may be a little overdramatic...
Not by much ...
"Well let's just say most of the justices wore a bra to the speech and leave it at that," Ginsburg said with a sly wink.
Charles Schumer approves
OT: Just spent come quality time on the Tweeterz suggesting that, no, "libertarians" do NOT "not care about the Constitution, only about results".
WTF? I finally got agreement that, OK, not EVERYONE feels that way. I'm like, you guys might wanna saunter on over to HyR some time, cause most of those guys want nothing MORE than for someone to pay attention to the Constitution (thinking about you Reasonoids more than some of the writers...I agreed that Steve Chapman, for example, is a Proggie LINO who has little to nothing to do with libertarianism....but they were throwing Napolitano into that camp, and I was, like... 'how 'bout NO'...")
What's that? People either paint with too broad a brush or just lie to discredit libertarians? Well, I never!
From my experience, most libertarians are what you might call ethical libertarians, believing that libertarian systems are the most morally and ethically correct ones. While we often tout the practical advantages of libertarian systems, that's not the heart of the political philosophy for most. It's one reason purely utilitarian views get pilloried around here so much. Not to say that there isn't gray area here, like with most things.
In theory, we could be the slaves of a super-robot that was the pinnacle of efficiency, but most of us would object to the slavery, regardless of the benefits. Most of us libertarians, I mean.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion!
John falls into that trap a lot when he tries to argue about game theory for voting. I don't give a shit about the results (that's not what determines the ethics of an action/decision) so using utilitarian arguments is not going to work.
I come at individualism from the point of view that where accountability and authority don't match, you get corruption, scapegoats, and general inefficiency. Because only individuals can make decisions, you have to leave decisions to individuals. I don't give a rat's ass whether this counts as utilitarian or consequentialist or anything; I don't know what people mean by all those terms, don't think they agree with each other half the time, and leave those discussions to Ph.D philosophers to antagonize each other.
Ethics and morality and efficiency are all tied together in my mind. Trying to separate them is a feature of statism.
I don't like her legal philosophy at all. Between this and her stead fast refusal to go off and retire and die before 2016 for the Prog cause, however, I am beginning to think that Ruth might be an alright gal, her legal ideas aside.
"Ooh, I have such a headache, yesterday is all a blur...
"I voted to uphold *what*?"
+50 Shades of "Justice"
Didn't Sugar Free do a SCOTUS fan fiction by that name?
I now have a modicum of respect for Justice Ginsburg.
Absurd. I doubt the fucking President is 100% sober during one of these things.
The only real question is who wasn't 100% totally smashed.
"YOU LIE!"
/Joe Wilson
The only real question is who wasn't 100% totally smashed.
Well, in all fairness to Joe Biden, it would be hard to see a difference between drunk and sober.
"Stand up, Libertarian....oh, God love ya...."
The SOTU drinking game is always fun.
Ginandtonicsburg.
Pet peeve time.
Just because a glass of wine makes an elderly woman sleepy, it does not mean she wasn't sober. It's like blowing an .08 on a breathalyzer makes you "drunk." No. No it doesn't.
Depends on the person.
So what? Justice Scalia was on poppers and Chief Justice Roberts was burning a fat one with his homies when the camera was off him. Fact.
I can only wish that Chief J Money would "burn a fat one" now and again. I think it would help his decisions.
Of course, I may be mistaken.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg admits to sharing some wine with her colleagues and not being "100 percent sober" for President Obama's State of the Union address in January.
BIG FUCKING DEAL.
/Dock Ellis
Shouldn't they test everyone in the session for drugs and alcohol?
Fantastic idea. You know what would be so cool????? Don't publicize it in advance. Have all the pols line up and take a pee test before entering the chamber -- then have cameras to see which ones turn around and pretend that they forgot they had an important meeting to go to.
Some would intentionally arrive fucked up, to cater to younger voters.
Points against her for not being able to handle it, though.
You want Vermouth? You can't handle Vermouth!
Looks like Root had too much wine before the alt-text.
"come on, loosen up, Sandy baby, you're too tight."
-John Riggins
We could use a man like John Riggins again.
Or Herbert Hoover.
I dunno, can he blast through a defensive line?
Everybody pulled their weight
If you had to go for a Supreme Court Justice, old Sandy was the best of a lot of bad options. She grew up on a ranch and had been in state politics in Arizona. I imagine when she was younger, she was probably a good time.
Opus One is some good - and expensive - stuff. Justice Kennedy treats his co-workers well.
Anybody that WAS sober during the SOTU is an obvious sociopath and should be rounded up and put into camps.
Agreed! The only way that I can stand any of it is with a glass in one hand and a bottle in the other.
From my experience, most libertarians are what you might call ethical libertarians, believing that libertarian systems are the most morally and ethically correct ones.
I consider myself a "Golden Rule" libertarian. It's pretty fucking simple to treat people as you would want them to treat you, isn't it?
*Not "He Who Has the Gold Makes the Rules."
The other one.
So what? Neither was I.