Justice Ginsburg Buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Private Ceremony
Washington last week honored the 87-year-old Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18
By Jessica Gresko ••
NBCUniversal, Inc.
The casket of justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. Ginsburg is the first female to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was buried Tuesday in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, laid to rest beside her husband and near some of her former colleagues on the court.
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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden pay their respects to the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as her casket lies in state during a memorial service in her honor in the Statuary Hall of the Capitol, Sept. 25, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2020.
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The remains of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lie in state at the US Capitol in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2020.
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The remains of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lie in state at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C, on Sept. 25, 2020.
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The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is carried up the steps of the U.S. Capitol before a memorial service in Washington, D.C., Sept. 25, 2020.
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The remains of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrive to lie in state at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., Sept. 25, 2020.
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pay respects as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at the Supreme Court building on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in Washington. Ginsburg, 87, died of cancer on Sept. 18.
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The flag-covered casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg rests under the Portico at the top of the front steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington.
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A visitor pays respects to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 23, 2020. Ginsburg, whose 27-year tenure as the second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court culminated a legal career dedicated to advancing the rights of women, died at the age of 87 on September 18.
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The casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is carried at the U.S. Supreme Court where she will lie in repose, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
The flag-draped casket of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives at the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C, Sept. 23, 2020.
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Former law clerks of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg watch as her casket is carried up the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court where she will lie in repose, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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Former law clerks walk out and stand as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s casket arrives at the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 23, 2020.
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A mourner stands outside of the Supreme Court where Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is lying in repose, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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A mourner wears a crown honoring Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court where she is lying in repose, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Ginsburg, who was appointed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, served on the high court from 1993 until her death on Sept. 18, 2020.
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A crowd gathers at the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C., after the Supreme Court announced that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87.
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Flowers and lit candles outside the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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People light candles outside the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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A man touches the door of the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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The US flag flies at half-mast above the White House in Washington, DC, late on September 18, 2020 after the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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People lay flowers outside the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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A man spells RBG with candles as a crowd gathers at the U.S. Supreme Court to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020.
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A crowd gathers at the U.S. Supreme Court to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020.
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A crowd gathers at the U.S. Supreme Court to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020.
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The morning of Saturday, September 19, 2020 outside the Supreme Court following the news of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing.
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Arlington, just over the Potomac River from Washington, is best known as the resting place of approximately 400,000 service members, veterans and family members. But Ginsburg is the 14th justice to be buried at the cemetery.
Ginsburg's husband Martin Ginsburg was buried at the cemetery in 2010 following his death from cancer. He had served in the Army as an artillery school instructor at Fort Sill in Oklahoma when the couple were newlyweds. The couple was married for 56 years and had two children. The justice had kept the framed, folded flag from her husband’s casket in her office at the court.
While the cemetery is known for its rows of white headstones, the section where the Ginsburgs are buried, called Section 5, is an older section of the cemetery where markers chosen by families are allowed, and their headstone is black, with a Star of David at the top.
The gravesite is just below the final resting place of former President John F. Kennedy. The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument are in the distance. Nine other justices are buried in that section, including three that Ginsburg served with.
Chief Justice John Roberts remembered his colleague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as tough, brave and honest during a private ceremony in the court’s Great Hall.
Other justices buried at the cemetery include President William Howard Taft, who served as chief justice after he was president, and Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights champion who argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case and became the court’s first black justice when he joined the bench in 1967. Harry Blackmun, the author of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing a woman’s right to an abortion, is buried next to Marshall in Section 5.
The last justice to be buried at the cemetery was retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who died in 2019 at the age of 99. In addition to Stevens, the other justices Ginsburg served with who are buried at the cemetery are Blackmun and Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
