Hamline professor has personal, humorous RBG memento

As the country mourns the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Hamline University Professor David Schultz is left with a personal, valuable memento.

"I thought my students might like to see this occasionally," Schultz said.

Back in 1999, he published an article about the speed and efficiency of the Supreme Court justices. After researching several terms, he determined Ginsberg was typically the fastest and the first to release her opinions.

He sent her a copy of the article, never expecting to hear back.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87

But not long after, a personal letter arrived in the mail. In it Ginsburg thanked Schultz for the article and joked that her daughter and her granddaughter often joked that she was the slowest eater in the family. She added she now had this to hold over them.

"When I read that letter, I thought she actually looked at my article and made a connection, and she told me something I wouldn’t have known otherwise," Schultz said,

"I think we need more of that in the court. The letter humanized her, and I think her approach to the law as to humanize it," he said.

The letter is now 21 years old. It hangs in Schultz’s office on campus at Hamline University.