Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Birthday: 10 Gifts to Get the 'Notorious' Supreme Court Justice

The Supreme Court justice turns 82 today.

ByABC News
March 15, 2015, 7:32 AM
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her Supreme Court chambers in Washington, July 31, 2014.
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her Supreme Court chambers in Washington, July 31, 2014.
Cliff Owen/AP Photo

— -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oldest sitting Supreme Court Justice, turns 82 Sunday.

To borrow the words of the late rapper Biggie Smalls, who inspired Ginsburg’s “Notorious R.B.G.” nickname, if you don’t know, now you know.

Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg is the second woman justice in U.S. history and, as Reuters reported, she has no plans to retire anytime soon, despite some calls for her to step down.

To celebrate, here are 10 things (some farfetched, others easy to get your hands on) that “Notorious R.B.G.” might love for her birthday:

Lego Set of the Women Supreme Court Justices

“Play on?” Try rule on.

The women of the Supreme Court now exist in LEGO form, thanks to writer Maia Weinstock, who said she hoped the toys would “encourage women to work toward high positions in the U.S. judicial system.”

Unfortunately for SCOTUS-loving parents everywhere, when Weinstock tried entering her collection into a Lego Ideas contest, the company rejected the design, citing a policy against political-themed sets, according to Time.

PHOTO: A LEGO set of female Supreme Court Justices created by Maia Weinstock includes Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
A LEGO set of female Supreme Court Justices created by Maia Weinstock includes Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Can you tell which one’s Ruth Ginsburg?

A Fancy Eye-popping Collar/Jabot

Justice Ginsburg seems to love adding flair to the justices’ otherwise bland black robes, so what better gift to give than the hallmark of her wardrobe?

She has a large collar collection ranging from all over the world, from places like Metropolitan Opera gift shop and Cape Town, South Africa. A justice can never have enough jabots (collars).

PHOTO: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses with other Supreme Court judges for a new group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 29, 2009.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses with other Supreme Court judges for a new group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 29, 2009.

Tickets to the Opera

An opera enthusiast, Ginsburg has attended the opera numerous times and even starred in two Washington Opera productions, playing herself in a 2003 production of "Die Fledermaus" and as an extra in a 1994 production of "Ariadne auf Naxos."

She already has tickets to go see the opera “Scalia/Ginsburg” - a one-act comic opera inspired by the two justices’ opinions and friendship - this summer.

PHOTO: U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, center, and Anthony M. Kennedy watch a ballet dancer as they play the roles of themselves in the Washington Opera's production of "Die Fledermaus" in Washington, Sept. 6, 2003.
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, center, and Anthony M. Kennedy watch a ballet dancer as they play the roles of themselves in the Washington Opera's production of "Die Fledermaus" in Washington, Sept. 6, 2003.

“Fine California Wine”

Playing up her “notorious” reputation, Ginsburg revealed that she “wasn’t 100 percent sober” at this year’s State of the Union.

According to Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justices decided to pre-game Obama’s address with some wine at dinner.

"Before we went to the State of the Union, Justice Kennedy brought in...it was an Opus something or other, very fine California wine, and I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from the wine," Ginsburg reportedly said. "But in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine."

She was caught dozing off during Obama’s speech.

PHOTO: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg rests during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 20, 2015.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg rests during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 20, 2015.

Overturning Citizens United...

“If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be Citizens United,” Ginsburg told The New Republic.

“I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.”

OK, so it’s not quite a feasible gift, but maybe that’s what Ginsburg will be wishing for as she blows out the candles on her birthday cake.

... Or Hobby Lobby

In the 2014 case Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby, in which the court ruled that corporations with religious beliefs do not have to provide free contraceptives to their employees, Ginsburg wrote one of her more famous dissents.

“The exemption sought by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga would override significant interests of the corporations’ employees and covered dependents,” Ginsburg wrote. “It would deny legions of women who do not hold their employers’ beliefs access to contraceptive coverage that the ACA would otherwise secure.”

Ginsburg Comic Book

A Ginsburg Bobblehead

The law journal “Green Bag” has been making bobbleheads of Supreme Court Justices since 2003 and, in 2012, the journal made Ginsburg immortal in bobblehead form.

The tiny toy has features that symbolize big moments in her judicial career. The book she is standing on is Volume 518 of United States Reports, in which her landmark decision in the case U.S. v. Virginia (she struck down the all-male admissions policy at Virginia Military Institute) was published. In her right hand, Ginsburg is clutching a plug she's pulling from a safe representing the 2007 case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. on which she wrote a famous dissent.

PHOTO: Fans of Ruth Bader Ginsburg made a Tumblr and designed t-shirts in honor of the associate Supreme Court Justice.
Fans of Ruth Bader Ginsburg made a Tumblr and designed t-shirts in honor of the associate Supreme Court Justice.

A 'Notorious R.B.G.' Shirt

Ginsburg embraces her nickname and even owns a few of Notorious R.B.G. T-shirts that her fans created.

She revealed to NPR’s Nina Totenberg that she didn’t understand the parody behind her nickname at first, and that now she has "quite a large supply" of the T-shirts.

Ginsburg Biography Written by Her Tumblr Bloggers

“I try to keep abreast of the latest that’s on the Tumblr,” said Ginsburg, who’s a fan of the Tumblr Notorious R.B.G. dedicated to all things Ginsburg, NPR reports.

The blog announced earlier this year that it would pull together components of the blog for a “short and lively biography” titled “R.B.G.: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” set to be released in October.