Ruth Bader Ginsburg Comments on Colin Kaepernick and National Anthem Protests

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the protests during the national anthem by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players "dumb and disrespectful" in an interview with Yahoo's Katie Couric. 

"I think it's really dumb of them," Ginsburg said. "Would I arrest them for doing it? No. I think it’s dumb and disrespectful. I would have the same answer if you asked me about flag burning. I think it’s a terrible thing to do, but I wouldn’t lock a person up for doing it. I would point out how ridiculous it seems to me to do such an act.”

She added: “If they want to be stupid, there’s no law that should be preventive. If they want to be arrogant, there’s no law that prevents them from that. What I would do is strongly take issue with the point of view that they are expressing when they do that.”

Ginsburg is the latest public figure to weigh in on the actions of many NFL players during the national anthem, as Kaepernick and other athletes continue to protest police brutality and the unfair treatment of African-Americans and other minorities. 

President Barack Obama was asked his opinion on the protests during a Presidential Town Hall in late September and said, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:

"

My hope would be that as this debate surfaces, we’re always reminding ourselves that in a democracy like ours, there are gonna be a lot of folks who do stuff that we just don’t agree with. But as long as they’re doing it within the law, then we can voice our opinion objecting to it, but it’s also their right.

And I think that it’s also important for us to recognize that sometimes out of these controversies we start getting into a conversation, and I want everybody to listen to each other. So I want Mr. Kaepernick and others who are on a knee, I want them to listen to the pain that that may cause somebody who for example had a spouse or a child who was killed in combat and why it hurts them to see somebody not standing. But I also want people to think about the pain that he may be expressing about somebody who’s lost a loved one that they think was unfairly shot.

"

The protests have taken a number of forms, from NFL players kneeling during the anthem to raising a fist in the air. And they've spread to the college level, with a number of college athletes protesting and several members of the East Carolina University marching band kneeling during a halftime performance.

Detractors of the protesters have taken a similar stance to Ginsburg's: that the protests are disrespectful, and more specifically, disrespectful to law enforcement officers and the military.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.