Two episodes of New Jersey Network’s television program “Due Process,” which are currently scheduled to air in June, will feature an interview with Supreme Court of the United States Justice Stephen Breyer by hosts Raymond Brown and Sandra King. A Justice since 1994, and the author of several books, including last year’s Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View,” Justice Breyer has been a consistent voice for fairness and a counterweight to the originalist view of the Constitution held by Justice Scalia.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the taping of the Justice Breyer interview at Rutgers-Newark School of Law this afternoon, and to have Justice Breyer autograph my copy of his latest book. The audience included such luminaries as retired Supreme Court of New Jersey Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Michael Chagares, United States Bankruptcy Court Judges Morris Stern and Rosemary Gambardella, Presiding Judge of the Appellate Division Dorothea O’C. Wefing, and United States Attorney Paul Fishman.
The interview focused largely on the book, but covered topics from Bush v. Gore, to the role of politics in Supreme Court appointments and on the Court (two very different things, as Justice Breyer took pains to point out), to cameras in the Court, to the citation of foreign law in opinions of the Court, and much more. Justice Breyer displayed wit, humility and, of course, judiciousness, in his answers.
The two episodes will make interesting viewing for lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Both groups will find his answers accessible and enlightening.