Ruth Bader Ginsburg Swearing-In (1993)

ladies and gentlemen the President of the United States accompanied by Chief Justice William H Rehnquist and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg [Music] [Applause] [Music] please be seated welcome to the White House it's my distinct honor to introduce the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Thank You mr. president Justice Ginsburg will you raise your right hand and repeat after me I Ruth Bader Ginsburg do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic against all enemies foreign and domestic that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter the duties of the office on which I am about to enter so help me God so help me God [Applause] Thank You chief justice mr. president distinguished guests colleagues and friends not yet two months ago President Clinton announced his intention to nominate me as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States I said then that if confirmed I would try in every way to justify his faith in me I renew that pledge this afternoon in the presence of people I hold dear my family colleagues co-workers and treasured friends there is one in this audience whose presence I want especially to acknowledge she is my wonderful mother-in-law Evelyn Ginsburg [Applause] [Music] she was always there when I needed her she sent without ever being asked when that was she constantly held up my spirits when the going was rough these two will pass she would say I am overjoyed mother that you were with me today this weekend I attended a celebration of women lawyers in New York the keynote speaker was our grand Attorney General Janet Reno it may have been the best attended it was certainly the most remarkable event at the American Bar Association's annual meeting Awards women were made in the name of Margaret French a great lady of the mid 1600s celebrated as the first woman lawyer in America her position as a woman yet a possessor of power so confused her contemporaries that she was sometimes named in court records not as mistress Margaret Brent but as gentleman Margaret Brennan times are changing the president made that clear by appointing me and just last week naming five other women to article three courts six of his total of 14 federal bench nominees thus far are women Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently quoted Oklahoma Supreme Court justice Jean Coyne who was asked do women judges decide cases differently by virtue of being women justice coin replied that in her experience a wise old man and a wise old woman reached the same conclusion I agree but I also have no doubt that women like persons of different racial groups and ethnic origins contribute what a fine jurist the late 5th Circuit Judge Alvin Reuben described as a distinctive medley of views influenced by differences in biology cultural impact and life experience a system of justice will be the richer for diversity of background and experience it will be the poorer in terms of appreciating what is at stake and the impact of its judgments if all of its members are cast from the same mold I was impressed by the description of women at the bar by one of the 1993 moderate brent prize recipients Esther Rothstein an attorney in private practice in Chicago Esther said she found women attorneys to be tough yet tender wanting to win but not vindictive cautiously optimistic with the sense to settle for victories that do not leave ones opponent bloodied and bowed willing to be a link in a chain that is strong yet pliable in my lifetime I expect there will be among federal judicial nominees based on the excellence of their qualifications as many sisters as brothers in that prospect that prospect is indeed cause for hope and it's realization will be cause for celebration thank you [Applause] ladies and gentlemen before we adjourn to the reception in honor of Justice Ginsburg I'd like to acknowledge the presence here today of Senator Moynihan who sponsored her socially [Applause] Senator Larry Pressler of South Dakota senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee my good friend Jack Brooks from Texas it's good to see all of you here [Applause] this was a very important appointment to me and one of my former lives I had the great joy and responsibility of teaching the United States Constitution and the decisions of the Supreme Court under it to aspiring but not always interested law students I have learned over the course of a lifetime of practical experience what I knew then we breathe life into the values we espouse through our law it gives to every American including the most illiterate among us the most totally unaware of how the legal system works a fair measure of our ideals and some reality that comes into life from the speeches given by the rest of us there is no one with a deeper appreciation of this fact than Ruth Bader Ginsburg this is a moment this historic moment therefore that all Americans can celebrate for no one knows better than she that it is the law that provides the rules that permit us to live together and that permit us to overcome the infirmities the bigotry the prejudice the limitations of our past and our present her nearly unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate was the swiftest in nearly two decades much credit must go to her own brilliance and her thoughtful balanced reasoning but I thank senators Moynihan and D'Amato for their sponsorship and assistance I thank chairman Biden and Senator hatch for their contributions and all the other senators including those who are present who supported her Ruth Bader Ginsburg does not need a seat on the Supreme Court to earn a place in our history books she has already secured that as the brilliant young Law School graduate she became an early victim of gender discrimination when as a woman and mother she sought nothing more than that which every one of us wants a chance to do she met this challenge with character and determination she took on the complex challenging challenges of winning what seems now to be such a terribly simple principle equal treatment for women and men before the law virtually every significant case bought before the Supreme Court in the decade of the 70s on behalf of women more her mark today virtually no segment of our society has been untouched by her efforts in the 1980s Ruth Bader Ginsburg ended her career as a scholar and advocate and began a new one as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals here in the District of Columbia she has emerged as one of our country's finest judges progressive and Outlook wise in judgment balanced and fair in her opinions she defied labels like liberal and conservative just as she did in her hearing before the Senate to earn a reputation for something else altogether excellence and through it all she has proved that you can have what most of us really want a successful work life and a successful family life that is due in no small measure to her husband of 39 years himself a distinguished lawyer and now I hasten to say for all the rest of us fast becoming a national model of what a good husband ought to be Marty Ginsburg please stand up our children Jane and James are here and she became a proud grandmother of Paul and Clara and in her announcement made them two of the most famous grandchildren in the entire United States now Ruth Bader Ginsburg's greatest challenge lies ahead a challenge to which she brings a powerful mind a temperament for healing a compassionate heart a lifetime of experience her story already is a part of our history now her words and her judgments will help to shape our nation today and well into the 21st century most of us know that the inscription above the main entrance to the Supreme Court reads equal justice under law but carved into the marble above the courts other entrance is another telling message justice the guardian of Liberty in Ruth Bader Ginsburg I believe the nation is getting a justice who will be a guardian of Liberty for all Americans and an insurer of equal justice under law we are all the better for that thank you for being here we're adjourned to the reception and Justice Ginsburg on [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I do want to say too before we go I want to acknowledge the presence of two other people former Chief Justice Warren burger and former associate Justice William Brennan who are here [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thanks boy

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Id: mJW4olEDzxM

Length: 17min 29sec (1049 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 08 2016