Justice Ginsburg receives Radcliffe Medal at Harvard, quotes ‘Scalia/Ginsburg’ opera

(Image: Charlie Mahoney for The New York Times)

On Friday, May 29, 2015, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg received the 2015 Radcliffe Medal at Harvard University. In her remarks, she discussed Derrick Wang’s opera Scalia/Ginsburg, which premieres in July 2015. (Tickets)

From the New York Times:  

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Last Friday afternoon, in an enormous tent in Radcliffe Yard at Harvard, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave a public interview before an adoring audience of about 1,300 people. She discussed her triumphs as a litigator, dodged oblique questions about gay rights and described an opera that premieres next month called “Scalia/Ginsburg.”

From the Associated Press:

Ginsburg said she also looks forward to seeing "Scalia/Ginsburg," a comedic opera based on her epic legal battles with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a longtime friend and fellow opera enthusiast.

The opera is reflective of the pop culture notoriety she's received in recent years.

From the Boston Globe:

…[I]n July, the comedic opera “Scalia/Ginsburg” will make its official debut, mining the liberal jurist’s famous friendship with the boisterous, conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

“Most important scene, and I’m eager to see this performed: Justice Scalia has been locked up in a dark room, imposed for excessive dissenting, and I come to his rescue, entering through a glass ceiling,” she told a crowd of 1,300 Harvard alumni and other guests.

From the Harvard Gazette:

At 82, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become a major pop icon.

Facts don’t lie. She is the subject of a new American opera with her colleague, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.…

Ginsburg even offered the crowd a preview of the libretto for “Scalia/Ginsburg.” To Scalia’s aria, which includes the lines “the justices are blind, how can they possibly spout this, the Constitution said absolutely nothing about this,” the stage Ginsburg replies, “You are searching for bright-line solutions to problems that don’t have easy answers. But the great thing about our Constitution, it can evolve.”

She also said, to cheers from the crowd, that at one point during the opera she comes to the rescue of Scalia, who has been locked up in a dark room for excessive dissenting, by “entering through a glass ceiling.”