Justice Ginsburg to discuss court's 'lighter side' with provost Oct. 23--UPDATED

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Princeton University's provost will discuss issues related to constitutional law in an event titled "A Conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Princeton Provost Chris Eisgruber" at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall.

The conversation will be preceded by a brief address by Ginsburg titled "On the Lighter Side of the U.S. Supreme Court: Customs and Habits That Promote Collegiality Among the Justices."

The free discussion is a ticketed event open to the University community and the general public. The deadline for media registration is noon Monday, Oct. 20. The event is sponsored by the Program in Law and Public Affairs and the University Public Lecture Series.

Tickets for the general public will be available from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 20, at the Richardson Auditorium box office while supplies last. The general public may pick up a maximum of two tickets per person.

Advance tickets for the University community are no longer available following the first day of ticket distribution. There will be open admission for any unfilled seats shortly before the event begins on Oct. 23. Individuals without tickets may wait in line outside Richardson Auditorium for open admission.

Ginsburg's appearance is this year's John Marshall Harlan '20 Lecture in Constitutional Adjudication, which celebrates the legacy of Harlan, one of nine Supreme Court justices to graduate from Princeton. The event also is supported by the Walter E. Edge Lecture Fund, which brings American and international public leaders to speak on campus.

"Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an inspiring figure in American law," said Eisgruber, the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Public Affairs in Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values. "Throughout her career she has been a trailblazer -- someone who overcame discrimination to establish her own career in the law, and then helped lead the struggle to secure legal recognition of women's rights."

Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Clinton in 1993, and is the second woman to serve on the court. Prior to her appointment, she was a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for 13 years. In 1971, she was instrumental in launching the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. Ginsburg was a professor of law at Rutgers University School of Law and Columbia Law School, and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, Calif.

"She is an independent thinker who is widely respected for her intellect and for her commitment to fairness and the rule of law," Eisgruber said. "Hearing her will be a treat for Princeton's students and our entire community."

Eisgruber, a 1983 Princeton graduate who became the University's provost in 2004, has written several books on the constitution and the Supreme Court. His books include "The Next Justice: Repairing the Supreme Court Appointments Process," "Constitutional Self-Government," and "Religious Freedom and the Constitution," which he co-wrote with Lawrence G. Sager of the University of Texas-Austin School of Law. 

Before joining the faculty in 2001, Eisgruber was a clerk for Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over district courts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and also for Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court. Eisgruber then served for 11 years on the faculty of New York University School of Law.

The event will be simulcast in McCosh 50 and 302 Frist Campus Center, and no tickets will be required at either simulcast location. It also will be broadcast live on Channel 7 to the campus community and archived online at WebMedia for later viewing.

Members of the news media interested in attending the event must call (609) 258-5733, or e-mail earonson@princeton.edu no later than noon Monday, Oct. 20. Please note that no flash photography will be permitted for news media, and media photos must be limited to the beginning and end of the conversation between Eisgruber and Ginsburg.

For security reasons, audience members should not bring backpacks to Richardson Auditorium, and must be seated by 4:15 p.m. No photographs may be taken by audience members during the event. For more information about this event, visit http://lectures.princeton.edu.