HONOLULU — United States and state flags have been ordered to fly at half-staff at all state offices and agencies, including the Hawai‘i National Guard, to honor the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at age 87.
Gov. David Ige issued the order Friday, stating flags will be at half-mast until the date of Ginsburg’s internment, which is to be determined.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a giant in advocating for justice and equity,” Ige said in a statement Friday. “Justice Ginsburg visited Hawai‘i several times, and it was clear that her values were closely aligned with those of our community. Dawn and I celebrate her work and life and mourn her loss.”
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) lauded Ginsburg’s “enduring legacy.”
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a brilliant jurist. In devoting her life to advancing equality and justice for all, she made our country a better place, and blazed a trail for women in civic life,” Schatz wrote.
“We must respect her final wish and wait to confirm her replacement until a new president is sworn in. Just like Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues said in 2016, the American people deserve a say in their next Supreme Court justice,” wrote Schatz.
Hawai‘i Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald remembered Ginsburg as a “brilliant jurist who tirelessly worked to ensure that our nation’s promise of justice for all was kept.”
Ginsburg visited the court in 2017, where she met with state justices and members of the bar, and “graciously spoke about her experiences and her love Hawai‘i with law clerks and staff attorneys.”
“On behalf of the Hawai‘i Judiciary, we send our deepest sympathy and fond aloha to her family,” Recktenwald said.
State House Speaker Scott K. Saiki put it simply: “Justice Ginsburg is irreplaceable.”
See a related story and photo, A3.
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Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
