Word: breyers
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...recently had the honor of asking Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer what he thought about the idea of such a modernizing Constitutional amendment. The Justice shared my frustration as well as the popular view that no amendment would likely be made. No matter. I am content with the Justice's acknowledgment of injustice...
...that as it may, Justice Stephen Breyer came to Harvard at a time when the Supreme Court, though obscure and distant to most Americans, is under attack for being the most powerful and tyrannical branch of the federal government. I was fortunate enough to have asked him a question at Hilell last Monday night. Is the conservative claim that over roughly the last 30 years the Supreme Court has gradually abandoned textual interpretation of the Constitution valid, I asked. His response was that literal interpretation is difficult to define, and that, in any event, examining trends...
Code translated, Breyer understood my question to be, "Do you agree that the Supreme Court has become accustomed to deciding cases, not based on the text of the Constitution, but rather on what the justices think the meaning of Constitution should be (a question betraying a Scalian mind set)? I understood his answer to be, "There is no such thing as a 'textual' argument, or one that is self-evident from the text. Rather, the Constitution is an evolving document that must be understood in relation to changing circumstances...
Willard S. Kasoff '99 also expressed admiration for Justice Breyer...
...Breyer is a very interesting figure," he said, "It was a very informative evening...