I'm Elizabeth Slattery and I'm Tiffany Bates.

And welcome to SCOTUS 101, where we break down what's happening at the Supreme Court,

what the justices are up to, and other things related to our favorite branch of government.

This week we're talking about cases on deck for argument, the Scalia papers,

and we sit down with Fifth Circuit Judge Kurt Englehart.

So the justices are coming back next week. They'll start hearing oral arguments again after

their extended winter break. And while they were out on break, a few of the justices were out

on the speaking circuit. So earlier this month, Justice Clarence Thomas spoke at the dedication

of the Nathan Deal Judicial Center in his home state of Georgia.

The Georgia Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are located in this new building.

So Justice Thomas gave a keynote speech, which that's pretty newsworthy.

He pretty rarely gives keynote speeches.

And he talked about the importance of judges showing courage to uphold the rule of law, even

when the outcome may not be popular.

He had a great line from the news reports that I saw.

He said, our decisions should not be driven by a desire to be revered or lionized for reaching

certain outcomes.

We are not mass media icons.

We are judges, nothing more and nothing less.

So perhaps he was throwing some shade on a few of his colleagues, including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

She was also out and about giving speeches. She attended an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment at Georgetown University Law Center.

And the notorious RBG threw some cold water on the recent effort to revive the Equal Rights Amendment.

...