Justice Ginsburg 'dozes off' as Pope Francis gives historic address to Congress

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg was seen lulling her head during pope's speech
Fellow judge Sonia Sotomayor was seen giving her a nudge to wake up
Pope Francis's speech overran by 20 minutes to a total of 50 minutes
It comes a few months after Justice Ginsberg fell asleep during SOTU
She admitted after Obama's address that she 'wasn't 100 per cent sober'

By Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 16:45 EST, 24 September 2015 | Updated: 18:58 EST, 24 September 2015

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Maybe she just has a very comfortable chair.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who fell asleep during State of the Union address after a tipple or two in January, is at it again.

As the pope made his historic address to Congress, the 81-year-old judge was spotted lulling her head and shutting her eyes.

At one point, Sonia Sotomayor was even seen giving her fellow adjudicator a gentle nudge.

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Nap time! Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared to fall asleep during the pope's historic address to Congress

Twitter users found it hilarious as the 81-year-old judge began to lull her head during the 50-minute speech

At one point, Sonia Sotomayor was seen gently nudging Justice Ginsburg, perhaps to wake her up

Francis's speech went 20 minutes over schedule, lasting 50 minutes instead of the planned 30. Applause accounted for about one minute.

The pontiff covered a range of contentious political issues, focusing his attention on immigration and climate change.

Despite the excitement, which had Speaker of the House John Boehner in tears, Ginsburg's supposed nap did not go unnoticed by TV viewers, who took to Twitter to comment.

'The Pope spoke late this morning to Congress today. Or as Ruth Bader Ginsburg called it, "nap time",' wrote one Twitter user.

Another commented: 'The Pope is in town and there wasn't a single nun around to rap the sleeping Ruth Bader Ginsburg's knuckles with a ruler?'

'Now we know why Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed to the SCOTUS. She's there to keep Ruth Bader Ginsburg awake,' one said.

Earlier this year, Ginsburg admitted she 'wasn't 100 per cent sober' when she dozed off during Obama's State of the Union address in January.

The 81-year-old Supreme Court Justice blamed her colleague Anthony Kennedy for poorly timed catnap, telling attendees of a Smithsonian Associates event in Washington, D.C. that he brought a 'very fine California wine' to dinner that was too good not to indulge in.

'The audience – for the most part – is awake because they’re bobbing up and down all the time and we sit there stone-faced, sober judges,' Ginsburg said at the Georgetown University event on Thursday evening, according to CBS.

'At least I wasn’t 100 percent sober because before we went to the State of the Union we had dinner,' she said.

She looked animated earlier as lawmakers stood to welcome the pontiff to the House on Thursday morning

The pope's speech overran by 20 minutes to almost an hour as he addressed immigration and climate change

Ginsburg also fell asleep during Obama's 2013 address to a joint session of Congress. Her excuse then? A 'very good California wine' that Justice Kennedy brought to dinner.

Kennedy's wine apparently got the best of her this year, too, and she again dozed off during the president's televised speech.

'Justice Kennedy brought in … it was an Opus something or other, very fine California wine that Justice Kennedy brought and I vowed this year just sparkling water, stay away from the wine,' Ginsburg revealed on Thursday.

'But in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine to accompany it,' she said.

Earlier this year, Ginsburg admitted she 'wasn't 100 per cent sober' when she dozed off during Obama's State of the Union address. Her excuse then? A 'very good California wine' that Justice Kennedy brought to dinner