Justice Souter refuses almost all speaking invitations and he avoids television cameras like the plague. But, in connection with his work on Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's independent judiciary project, Justice Souter recently gave a brief speech at an ABA meeting and allowed it to be videotaped. (By the way, video of recent talks by Justices O'Connor and Breyer on this topic are here.) Here's a snippet from coverage of Souter's speech:
Two-thirds of the nation, says retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, can't even name all three branches of government.
"This is something to worry about,'' Souter told 1,000 lawyers Saturday at the American Bar Association convention who packed Chicago's Symphony Center.
An electorate unaware of the special role of the judiciary in the U.S. government will fall prey to demagogues, he said.
"A populace that has no inkling that the judicial branch has the job of policing the limitations of power within the constitutional scheme and no understanding that we are charged with making good on constitutional guarantees even for the most unpopular people in society [will succumb to] cries to impeach judges who stand up for individual rights against the popular will," he said solemnly.
Improving civic education is the nonpartisan cause he has embraced to champion in retirement.
The ABA has agreed to join Souter's push, President H. Thomas Wells said.
The video of the speech is here. It's worth watching.
Thanks ... given Souter's message, it is logical to let the public listen. He did take part in a civics related panel a few months ago that was aired on C-SPAN.
Posted by: Joe | August 04, 2009 at 05:23 PM
Good point, Joe. And thanks for the tip about the panel discussion.
Posted by: Melissa Rogers | August 05, 2009 at 03:42 AM