The 81-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told law students at Georgetown University this week that she believes there will be “enough” women on the Supreme Court when “there are nine” justices.
“People ask me sometimes when do you think it will be enough? When will there be enough women on the court? And my answer is when there are nine,” she said.
Ginsburg is currently one of three women sitting on the United States Supreme Court. Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan. Ginsburg became the second female justice on the court when President Bill Clinton appointed her in 1993.
She told the crowd of Georgetown students about the challenges of finding a job in the legal profession as a woman in the early days of her career.
“Most judges wouldn’t hire women,” she explained. “And the excuse for not hiring women in the Criminal Division was they have to deal with all these tough types, and women aren’t up to that. And I was amazed. I said, have you seen the lawyers at legal aid who are representing these tough types? They’re all women.”
Ginsburg revealed that if she had her choice of another career profession, she would want to be a “great diva.”