Paying respects to RBG this week? Here’s what you need to know
Justice will lie in repose at court, then move to Capitol
The public can pay its respects as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at the Supreme Court Wednesday and Thursday this week, following a private ceremony held Wednesday morning.
The public can visit the court Wednesday between 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. and from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Thursday, September 24. The line on the sidewalk outside the court was already stretching down the block Wednesday morning ahead of the 9:30 a.m. private service.
The court instructs members of the public to “observe the solemnity of the occasion while on the Plaza,” which is often home to protests, speeches and rallies.
Visitors are also required to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Social distancing is required, and the wearing of face coverings/masks will also be required to participate in the public viewing,” according to guidance issued by the court.
Despite flowers, signs, and visitation stones left in front of the court since Ginsburg’s death on Sept. 18, no offerings or tokens will be permitted on the court plaza or steps while the justice lays in repose.
Some of the hundreds of items left over the weekend, including artwork and notes placed at the Supreme Court in honor of Ginsburg, were collected by the court’s curator’s office and others were offered to the family.
On Friday, Ginsburg will lie in state in Statuary Hall in the Capitol. A formal ceremony for invited guests will be held in the morning. The casket will lie atop the Lincoln Catafalque, the same platform built and used during the funeral of Abraham Lincoln after the 16th president was assassinated in 1865, according to a statement from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Additional details on what is planned for Friday at the Capitol have not been released.
Ginsburg, 87, died Friday after a long illness with pancreatic cancer. She will be buried Tuesday, Sept. 29, after Yom Kippur, the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. She will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery alongside her husband of 56 years, Marty Ginsburg, who died in 2010. Members of the court, family and close friends will attend.
