Private: The "Ginsburg Precedent"

With hearings on Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court scheduled to begin Monday, the so-called "Ginsburg precedent" regarding how forthcoming a nominee should be on controversial issues is being much discussed. In a recent American Constitution Society Issue Brief "The Confirmation Hearings of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Answering Questions While Maintaining Judicial Impartiality," author Kristina Silja Bennard offered insight into the precedent offered by Justice Ginsburg's testimony. The report examined the extent to which then-nominee Ginsburg provided substantive answers to Senators' questions exploring her judicial philosophy. Bennard argued, for example, that Justice Ginsburg answered questions about current and controversial legal issues with candor, including questions about her personal views of contentious social issues, her judicial methodology and her approach to constitutional and statutory interpretation.