Ginsburg Falls Asleep: Media Pretend Not to Notice

March 2nd, 2006 2:01 PM

It’s a question that has been asked many times: If Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fell asleep during a case, would the media notice? The answer, apparently, is no. On March 1, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of a Texas redistricting plan. One only has to look at the accompanying graphic to see how exciting Justice Ginsburg found the case. FNC correspondent Megyn Kendall reported it this way on Wednesday's Special Report:

"It is one of the biggest redistricting cases the high court has heard in years, but the special two hour argument proved less then compelling to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who at times appeared to be, well, asleep."

Not one of the three broadcast evening news programs sought fit to mention Ginsburg's nap, although both NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News covered the hearing.

But pretend for a moment that this had happened to a conservative member of the Supreme Court. Let's say Thomas, Alito or Roberts took an unscheduled rest during a hearing. Think that would have been a story? After all, Clarence Thomas is criticized for not talking enough and Scalia is attacked for tennis related issues.