You all know that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol — according to the news, the first woman to ever be given the honor. Well, in this day of not believing everything (or maybe even most of) what you hear, I got to thinking… it doesn’t seem that long ago that Rosa Parks’s casket was displayed at the Capitol. After doing some checking, there are two terms that I thought pretty much meant the same thing — to lie in repose and to lie in state. Both you faithful readers know that this information just begged for some extensive research on my part.
When a member of government dies, if their casket is on display in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, they they are consider to lie in state.
If the casket is in any other building, the government official, or former government official is considered to lie in repose.
Because Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in the Capitol Rotunda — to invited guests only, due to the pandemic — she will lie in state, becoming the only woman to do so. Actually, only 34 others have been honored as lying in State — all of them were men. According to my extensive research, everyone that has been given the honor of lying in state has been a distinguished government official, but there is no technical rule that requires that a person has to be a government official. The guidelines read “Any person who has rendered distinguished service to the nation may lie in state if the family so wishes and Congress approves.” So the determination as to who gets to lie in stare is determined by the House and Senate.
When Justice Ginsburg’s casket moves to be honored at the Supreme Court, she will lie in repose, with her coffin at the top of the building’s front steps.
So — was Rosa Parks, when she was honored at the Capitol lying in repose? Nope — even though she was honored at the Capitol, she was a private citizen, not a government official or a Congress approved honorary. Therefore, she was considered to be lying in honor. Evangelist Billy Graham was also honored by lying in honor at the Capitol.
The term “lying in honor” also includes those members of government, or former members of government placed on view in the U.S. Capitol for the public to pay their respects — but not in the formal Capitol Rotunda.
Like a lot of things, using he correct term sometimes gets a little confusing, but no matter the terminology used, it’s the “honor” that we should be concerned with — that’s not something that’s bestowed — it’s something that’s earned.
Rest in Peace, Justice Ginsburg.
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