A Sense of Decency
SSAA choir and string quartet
(2020)

Text: Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Language: English
Duration: 11 minutes

Premiering January 2020
Radcliffe Choral Society
Cambridge MA

Check out the Radcliffe Choral Society’s digital premiere of the piece! Featuring video of performers and artwork created specifically for the project.

Production by Harvard University Media Production Center

Composer’s Note

I am moved by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s unflappable commitment to her responsibilities as a member of the Supreme Court of the United States. I am also moved by her writing in opinions and dissents, where she balances her vast knowledge with an equally intense and biting tone, so calmly and fully supporting or dismantling the decisions handed down by the Court.

Composition—and art in general—has the capacity to be inherently political, though some works can be more overt in their statements than others. This text is excerpted and crafted from one opinion of the Supreme Court and one dissent; first, Ginsburg’s dissent against a ruling that allowed a large cross serving as a WWI monument to stay on state land (American Legion vs. American Humanist Association 2019, No. 17-1717). The second movement excerpts from one of Ginsburg’s earliest written opinions as an Associate Justice, in the case against the Virginia Military Institute’s previously established practice of accepting and enrolling only men in their programs (United States vs. Virginia 1996, No. 94-1941). While I have very strong opinions of my own about how each case turned out, I did my best to capture, instead, excerpts of Justice Ginsburg’s text that speak to decency, courtesy, and access to opportunity in a broader sense.

Text

I. Monumental, Clear, and Bold
(Excerpted from American Legion vs. American Humanist Association, 2019: No. 17-1717. Justice Ginsburg, dissenting)

Monumental, clear, and bold.
By day the cross looms larger to honor local soldiers who lost their lives,
to honor the sacrifices made in all wars by all veterans demands neutrality between religion and non-religion.

A cross is not suitable to honor those of other faiths who died defending their nation.
They who served us in life should be honored, as they would have wished, in death…
Pay[ing] equal respect to all who perished in the service of our country.
However… individuals worship, they will count as full and equal American citizens.

II. Inherent Differences
(Excerpted from United States vs. Virginia, 1994: 518 U.S. 515. Justice Ginsburg’s opinion.)

When a law denies to women, simply because they are women,
Then the law denies full citizenship stature
Equal opportunity to aspire
To achieve,
Participate in and contribute to society.

When a government denies to women, based on their individual talents and capacities,
It denies extraordinary opportunities,
It denies training and leadership.
The government must do more than favor one gender.

We have come to appreciate inherent differences.
Our inherent differences remain cause for celebration.