Ruth Bader Ginsburg made her final trip to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Watch the Supreme Court ceremony:
Chief Justice John Roberts said the words that best describe the late Justice are “tough, brave, a fighter, a winner” but also “thoughtful, careful, compassionate, honest.”
Roberts spoke Wednesday during a private ceremony in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. After the ceremony, Ginsburg’s flag-draped casket was placed at the top of the court’s front steps so that the public can pay their respects to the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court in line with public health guidance for the coronavirus pandemic.
Ginsburg’s flag-draped casket arrived at the court at 9:30 a.m. and was carried into the court’s Great Hall by Supreme Court police, past her former law clerks who lined the steps as honorary pallbearers.
Inside, the court’s remaining eight justices, all of them wearing masks, were together for the first time since the building was closed in March and they resorted to meetings by telephone. Because of the pandemic, however, chairs for the justices were spaced apart.
Ginsburg will lie in repose for two days at the court. Her casket will be on public view from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday.
Nearly 500 members of the public had gathered to pay their respects Wednesday morning. Thousands of people are expected to visit.
Ginsburg served 27 years on the court and, before that, argued six cases for gender equality in the 1970s.
After a private ceremony Wednesday, Ginsburg’s casket was moved outside the building to the top of the court’s front steps so that public mourners can pay their respects in line with public health guidance for the pandemic.
On Friday, Ginsburg will lie in state at the Capitol, the first woman to do so and only the second Supreme Court justice after William Howard Taft. She will buried beside her husband, Martin, in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery next week.
At 5 p.m. Saturday, President Donald Trump will announce his choice to replace Ginsburg on the court.
According to The Associated Press, Trump met with Judge Amy Coney Barrett at the White House on Monday and told reporters he would interview other candidates and might meet with Judge Barbara Lagoa when he travels to Florida later this week.
Conversations in the White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office have been increasingly focused on Barrett and Lagoa, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber and can confirm a justice by a simple majority.
The president also indicated that Allison Jones Rushing, a 38-year-old appellate judge from North Carolina, is on his short list. His team is also actively considering Kate Todd, the White House deputy counsel who has never been a judge but was a clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas.
Democratic White House nominee Joe Biden and Democrats are protesting the Republicans' effort to replace Ginsburg, saying voters should speak first on Election Day and the winner of the White House should fill the vacancy.
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