The full extent of the unlikely friendship between late Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg is revealed in a new biography.

Despite their political divides – Scalia was a staunch conservative and Ginsberg was a liberal icon – the two shared affectionate notes about their work.

A biography of Scalia’s early years by journalist James Rosen says that they bonded while serving at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, long known as a stepping stone to the Supreme Court.

Scalia: Rise to Greatness reveals that Ginsburg praised Scalia for a ‘beautifully done’ decision while they both served at the District of Columbia Circuit Court in the 1980s.

She repeatedly apologized for his heavy workload, once telling him: ‘Sorry you have to go through this labor’ and even griping about another judge for being ‘ineffective’.

For his part, Scalia hailed one of Ginsberg’s rulings as a ‘superb job’ and supposedly ‘let his hair down’ in the marks on her draft judgements, Rosen writes.

New book Scalia: Rise to Greatness reveals that RBG and Antonin Scalia became close friends while serving at the District of Columbia Circuit Court in the 1980s. Pictured together in 2014

The SCOTUS justices are seen posing with members of the cast of ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ following a performance at the Washington Opera in 1994. The justices, both opera lovers, appeared as extras during the performance

The book, which is out March 7, shows how the judges were able to breach their political differences to form a solid friendship, which now seems quaint given the partisan bickering over the Supreme Court.

Both were from New York – Scalia from Queens and Ginsberg from Brooklyn – and she was a Jew while he was a Catholic and Italian American.

They were fellow academics, Scalia having taught at the University of Virginia and University of Chicago law schools, Ginsburg at Rutgers and Columbia.

After Scalia’s death in 2016 aged 79, Ginsberg said she was ‘blessed’ to have been his friend and said they were ‘best buddies’.

The book, which is out March 7, is written by journalist James Rosen

Scalia, who was known as ‘Nino’, once said: ‘What’s not to like? Except her views on the law’, referring to Ginsberg who died in 2020 aged 87.

Ginsberg served on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Court from 1980-93 while Scalia served from 1982-86.

Rosen writes that during that time Ginsberg exhibited an ‘almost maternal attitude towards Scalia’ and repeatedly and ‘needlessly’ expressed concern over his workload, offering to trade cases to make it easier for him.

In one private note, Ginsberg wrote: ‘Sorry about the headache the case is giving you.’ In another she wrote: ‘Sorry to have you go through this labor.’

At one point Ginsberg made a joke about ‘puntas’, which was a reference to a 1914 novel by French laureate Andrew Gide, followed by a second note to make sure that Scalia got her point.

On one Scalia draft, Ginsberg wrote: ‘Just right. I concur.’ On another she wrote: ‘Beautifully done.’

She even complained about another judge, Pat Wald, telling Scalia: ‘PMW (Weld) is least effective when she attempts to build a case from her own interpretation.’

Scalia’s notes to Ginsberg on her drafts included ‘A superb job,’ ‘I could suggest no improvements’ and ‘excellent as usual.’

The book says that in the notes to Ginsberg, Scalia could ‘let down his hair.’

When Ginsberg urged him to change his vote on a ruling, he did so the next day, telling her: ‘Let’s be unanimous.’

While apologizing for delivering a reply late, he chastised himself for being the ‘sloth that I am.’

The public appeared to enjoy the friendship between the two judges and when they appeared together at George Washington University in 2015, the first 350 tickets were bought in less than three hours.

The previous year they had been made the subject of the comic opera ‘Scalia/Ginsberg’ by Derrick Wang.

After Scalia’s death in 2016 aged 79, Ginsberg said she was ‘blessed’ to have been his friend and said they were ‘best buddies.’ She is pictured speaking at his memorial service

The justices put their political differences aside and  praised each other’s work. Scalia hailed one of Ginsberg’s rulings as a ‘superb job’ and supposedly ‘let his hair down’ in the marks on her draft judgements, Rosen writes

Scalia once said, ‘What’s not to like? Except her views on the law,’ referring to Ginsberg who died in 2020 aged 87

Describing the friendship, Scalia once said: ‘I attack ideas. I don’t attack people. Some very good people have some very bad ideas’.

Another time Scalia said: ‘We agree on a whole lot of stuff.’

In her memoir ‘My Own Words’, Ginsberg said that Scalia had a ‘captivating brilliance, high spirits and quick wit.’

Among the other revelations in Rise to Greatness is that Scalia’s father was so exacting that he made him a perfectionist for life and he even corrected his legal briefs in pen when he was a federal judge, despite having no legal training.

When the late judge Robert Bork was overlooked for a Supreme Court seat in favor of Scalia by Ronald Reagan in 1986, he blamed the fact that Scalia was the first Italian American to be given the honor.

Rosen claims that Reagan had another reason for choosing Scalia: Bork was older and smoked, meaning he wouldn’t live long enough to make an impact on the court – although he did go on to nominate him unsuccessfully the following year.

Scalia endured discrimination because of his Italian American background and was called names such as ‘Fat Tony’ on account of his weight.

While Scalia’s hard-charging personality impressed some it infuriated others and some thought he was an ‘a******’.

Scalia also had a habit of getting into fights at restaurants such as when he lost it at staff who told him he couldn’t smoke his pipe – while smoking cigarettes was fine.

Another time he got into an argument with a friend when he tried to tip the waitress a dime then flew into a rage when challenged about it.