the notorious rbg

Stephen Colbert Gets Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Official Ruling on Hot Dogs v. Sandwiches

Years ago, (fake) Judge John Hodgman made a definitive ruling on the question, “Are hot dogs sandwiches?” He swung his gavel and announced that they were not. As he told Stephen Colbert, it comes down to what you would do with a hot dog that you wouldn’t do with a hoagie, sandwich, or sub: cut it in half. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who sits slightly higher in the judicial branch than a comedian podcaster, was asked to take up the matter on The Late Show. She conceded that a hot dog could be a sandwich, but only if you define a sandwich as a piece of meat placed between two pieces of bread (or in this case a roll). Without settling on the authoritative definition, or expressly overruling the precedent set by Hodgman, the court was adjourned. Now watch RBG out-bench a late-night host three decades her junior.

Colbert Gets Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Ruling on Hot Dogs