Older SCOTUS justices show no signs of mental decline, journalists say
Older justices on the U.S. Supreme Court show no signs of mental decline, according to SCOTUS journalists appearing at a panel discussion on Thursday.
Adam Liptak of the New York Times said there was no difference in the justices’ mental acuity based on age, according to the Fulton County Daily Report (sub. req.). Other Supreme Court journalists agreed during the appearance at Georgia State University College of Law. How Appealing links to the video.
University of Pittsburgh law professor David Garrow wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed earlier this month that an aging Supreme Court raises concerns of mental decline. He said the two oldest justices—82-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg and 79-year-old Antonin Scalia—are “putting themselves in the way of embarrassment.”
Garrow said Ginsburg fell asleep during the State of the Union and during an oral argument, and Scalia “sounds increasingly irritated in his opinions and public speeches.”
But Robert Barnes of the Washington Post said Ginsburg is consistently the best prepared justice during oral arguments,.
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate and Newsweek said it was unfair to criticize Ginsburg for falling asleep during the State of the Union. “I fall asleep during the State of the Union,” Lithwick said.
