Retired Judge Joseph Cosgrove, a Pittston native who formerly served on Luzerne County and Commonwealth Court, is seen with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at the age of 87. Cosgrove recalled Ginsburg as a friend and gracious host who frequently met with King’s College students who he brought to Washington to learn about the court. ‘She stands as a giant of constitutional law,’ Cosgrove said of Ginsburg.
Courtesy Joseph Cosgrove
Joseph Cosgrove, left, is seen with then student Drew McLaughlin and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 11 years ago during a visit by King’s College students to Washington, D.C.
Courtesy Drew McLaughlin
News of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing left many anxious about the future makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court Friday night.
The news left retired Judge Joseph Cosgrove mourning a friend.
“She can never be replaced,” Cosgrove said quietly during a telephone interview Friday evening. “The seat may be filled, but she can never be replaced.”
Cosgrove, a Pittston native who served on the Luzerne County bench before being appointed to the state’s Commonwealth Court in 2016, had long known Ginsburg through a mutual friend from New York.
He also knew Ginsburg as a powerful and gracious teacher.
Cosgrove taught constitutional law at King’s College for many years, and often took his students to Washington, D.C. to observe the Supreme Court in person, including visits with Ginsburg.
“She always made time for them,” Cosgrove said. “She was beyond gracious.”
During one visit, Justice Ginsburg took particular interest in what the students had grasped about a case they had listened to.
“She grilled the students on the case,” Cosgrove recalled with a chuckle. “They weren’t expecting that.”
One of Cosgrove’s former students is Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Drew McLaughlin, who penned a tribute to Ginsburg on Facebook Friday night, recalling meeting the jurist in her chambers.
“In the spring of 2009, I had the privilege and honor of meeting with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her chambers after oral argument in a case that my King’s College seminar class had been following all semester,” McLaughlin wrote on Facebook. “It was one of the few times in my life that I was speechless and I was truly starstruck to be in her presence.
“I never forgot how she emphasized that good writing was such an essential skill for a lawyer,” he went on.
McLaughlin said that meeting with Ginsburg could be at least partially responsible for his later decision to go to law school five years later, saying his respect for her only grew as he learned about her opinions.
“She was a pioneer and legend before she joined the Court,” he wrote. “She will be remembered among the greatest justices in the country’s history.”
Cosgrove echoed that sentiment.
“She stands as a giant of constitutional law,” Cosgrove said. “Her legacy will be revered and studied for generations.”
