Ginsburg’s body will lie in repose at Supreme Court

FILE- In this Aug. 3, 1993, file photo, then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses in her robe in her office at U.S. District Court in Washington. Earlier, the Senate voted 96-3 to confirm Bader as the 107th justice and the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at her home in Washington, on Sept. 18, 2020, the Supreme Court announced. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File) (Doug Mills, AP1993)

WASHINGTON – The body of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in repose at the Supreme Court this week, with arrangements to allow for public viewing despite the coronavirus pandemic, the court said Monday.

Ginsburg’s casket will be on public view Wednesday and Thursday under the portico at the top of the court's iconic steps in front of the building.

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Public viewing is expected to last from 11 a.m. EDT to 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday and 9 a.m. EDT to 10 p.m. EDT Thursday, the court said. Congress made similar arrangements for a public viewing outside the Capitol after the death of Rep. John Lewis in July.

A private ceremony will take place at the court on Wednesday morning for the justices, Ginsburg's family and friends.

In addition, Ginsburg's body also will lie in state Friday in Statuary Hall at the Capitol and a private ceremony will be held there, too, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who also was president, is the only other justice to be accorded the honor of lying in state at the Capitol, according to the House website. Taft died in 1930, shortly after work began on the site where the Supreme Court would open in 1935.

Ginsburg will be buried next week at Arlington National Cemetery, beside her husband Martin, in a private service, the court said.

The justice died Friday at age 87 from pancreatic cancer. She served on the court for 27 years, appointed in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.