Ginsburg at High Court for Music Program After Health Scare

(Bloomberg) -- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was released from the hospital Sunday, is at the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to attend a scheduled musical program there, a spokeswoman said.

Ginsburg, 86, was hospitalized Friday night with chills and a fever and treated with antibiotics and fluids. She was first evaluated at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington and then transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, about 40 miles away.

It was the latest in a series of recent health scares for the four-time cancer survivor, the leader of the court’s liberal wing. She took a rare sick day earlier this month when she missed an argument session with what court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg described at the time as a stomach virus.

Until early this year, when she was recovering from lung-cancer surgery, Ginsburg had never missed an argument because of illness. She joined the court in 1993.

Her health is being closely watched in part because the Supreme Court could tack sharply to the right if she had to step down and President Donald Trump were able to appoint her successor.

Ginsburg, an opera fan, has for years helped organize the musical programs, which are now twice-yearly events that bring in such big-name performers as cellist Yo-Yo Ma and soprano Denyce Graves.

The justices are scheduled to take the bench again on Dec. 2.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.