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Ginsburg lies in state in US Capitol, first woman so honored
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Judy Barnett drops off flowers at a memorial to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 25, 2020 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California.
(AFP/Frederic J. Brown)
L
ate Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was honored Friday at the US Capitol, where she made history one final time, becoming the first woman and first Jewish person to lie in state there.
Ginsburg's flag-draped casket was carried up the Capitol east steps and brought to Statuary Hall, where the justice's relatives, US lawmakers and dignitaries including Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, were in attendance.
Guests -- wearing masks and observing social distance guidelines to guard against the spread of coronavirus -- placed their hands on their hearts as an honor guard laid the casket on a wooden stand draped by black ribbon.
The stand, known as a catafalque, was the same one that bore president Abraham Lincoln's body after his assassination in 1865.
Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18 at age 87, was only the second woman to serve on America's highest court, and became known for changing the face of US anti-discrimination law.
"May she rest in peace," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in brief remarks, before later approaching the casket and making a sign of the cross.
Biden, who like Pelosi is Catholic, made the same gesture when he stopped before the casket with his wife Jill Biden.
Most lawmakers in attendance were Democratic women, including Biden's running mate Senator Kamala Harris, although some Republicans also paid their respects, including the party's number two in the House, Steve Scalise.
Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, addressing the gathering, said Ginsburg -- who beat back several bouts of cancer before succumbing to pancreatic cancer -- "pursued justice" every day of her life, even in illness.
"Justice did not arrive like a lightning bolt but rather through dogged persistence," the rabbi said.
The ceremony took place in historic Statuary Hall, where civil rights icon Rosa Parks, who as a private civilian lay in honor in the Capitol after her death in 2005, is commemorated with a statue.
Among the mourners was Bryant Johnson, Ginsburg's longtime personal trainer, who appeared in viral videos featuring the octogenarian justice performing planks and curls as part of her exercise routine.
Johnson approached the casket, lowered himself to the marble floor and did three push-ups in Ginsburg's honor.
President Donald Trump, Biden's election rival, has vowed to quickly fill the crucial court vacancy and has said he will announce his pick to replace Ginsburg on Saturday.
Trump paid his respects to the late justice Thursday at the Supreme Court, where he was heckled by protesters.
