Ethical Lapses
— Likened a Sen. Grassley proposal to create a judiciary inspector general’s office to Stalinism, saying that such oversight “is a really scary idea” that “sounds to me very much like [how] the Soviet Union was.” (2006)
— Was a featured presenter at the 100th anniversary gala of liberal magazine The New Republic. Worse, the event was underwritten by Credit Suisse, which earlier in the year was a party in a Court petition. (2014)
— Gave an interview to The New Republic in which she offered a dim view of a Texas anti-abortion law, HB2. The law was eventually challenged all the way to the Supreme Court, and Ginsburg did not recuse from the case. (2014-16).
— Performed a same-sex marriage while 14-556, Obergefell v. Hodges, was still under consideration by the Court. (2015)
— Called then-candidate Donald Trump a “faker” with “an ego” in an interview with CNN. Said she couldn’t “imagine what the country would be [like] with Donald Trump as our president” in an interview with the New York Times. Later apologized, saying, “My recent remarks [...] were ill-advised, and I regret making them. Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office.” Ginsburg never recused from a case in which President Trump was a litigant. (2016; 2017-2020)
— Accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Genesis Prize Foundation, which came with a $1 million in prize money that she later donated, though judicial gift regulations cap the value of what may be accepted and then donated at $2,000. (2017)
— Accepted the $1 million Berggruen Institute prize for philosophy and culture (also said to have donated the money). (2019)
— Nothing wrong with justices voting but per a voter roll review in Jan. 2020 was registered as a Democrat. (2020)
Source: Fix the Court