Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Lauding #MeToo, Spurns 'Boys Will Be Boys'
"#MeToo was also an example of women coming together in numbers. Women nowadays are not silent about bad behavior," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Wednesday in remarks at Georgetown University Law Center.
September 27, 2018 at 07:36 AM
4 minute read
On the eve of Brett Kavanaugh's appearance Thursday to face accusations of sexual misconduct, his would-be colleague on the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lauded the ongoing women's cultural movement confronting mistreatment and the long silence of victims.
Kavanaugh has denied claims of sexual assault and excessive drinking stemming from his high school years in suburban Washington. The confrontation Thursday, set to begin at 10 a.m. before the Senate Judiciary Committee, comes with the #MeToo movement in the backdrop and just days after comedian Bill Cosby was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing women years ago.
“I am really cheered on by this #MeToo [movement],” Ginsburg said Wednesday in a conversation with Dean William Treanor of Georgetown University Law Center. “Because these #MeToo complaints—every woman of my vintage has not just one story, but many stories. But we thought there was nothing you could do about it. Boys will be boys, so just find a way to get out of it. #MeToo was also an example of women coming together in numbers. Women nowadays are not silent about bad behavior.”
President Donald Trump on Wednesday, defending Kavanaugh, called the #MeToo movement “very dangerous.” He called the allegations against Kavanaugh “all false” but said he would watch the hearing Thursday and could be convinced otherwise.
“I've had a lot of false charges made against me, really false charges,” Trump said at a press conference. “I know friends that have had false charges. People want fame. They want money. They want whatever. So when I see it, I view it differently than somebody sitting home watching television, where they say, 'Oh, Judge Kavanaugh this or that.' It's happened to me many times.”
➤➤ Read Brett Kavanaugh's Opening Statement
Ginsburg has spoken out previously in support of the #MeToo movement. “It's amazing to me that, for the first time, women are really listened to, because sexual harassment had often been dismissed as 'well, she made it up' or 'she's too thin-skinned.' So I think it's a very healthy development,” Ginsburg said in February.
Ginsburg did not mention Kavanaugh or his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, during her remarks with Treanor.
Ford, a psychology professor in California, alleges Kavanaugh, then 17, pinned her to a bed at a party, tried to pull off her clothes and put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Ford, who said she believed Kavanaugh was going to rape her, remained silent for years about the alleged abuse, saying she was “too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details.”
The committee's Republican leadership reopened Kavanaugh's confirmation proceedings to address Ford's claims. There's no certainty that Kavanaugh, if he's confirmed, will be sitting at the start of the Supreme Court term on Monday.
Read more:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllRead the Document: 'Google Must Divest Chrome,' DOJ Says, Proposing Remedies in Search Monopoly Case
3 minute readAmir Ali, MacArthur Justice Center Director, Confirmed to DC District Court
Health Care Giants Sue FTC, Allege Lina Khan Using Loaded Process to Vilify Pharmacy Benefit Managers
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Trump Taps Former Fla. Attorney General for AG
- 2Newsom Names Two Judges to Appellate Courts in San Francisco, Orange County
- 3Biden Has Few Ways to Protect His Environmental Legacy, Say Lawyers, Advocates
- 4UN Treaty Enacting Cybercrime Standards Likely to Face Headwinds in US, Other Countries
- 5Clark Hill Acquires L&E Boutique in Mexico City, Adding 5 Lawyers
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250