US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
The Honorable Stephen Breyer, US Supreme Court Justice, visited the College of Arts and Sciences on Tuesday, March 4, 2007 to speak to students, faculty and members of the Suffolk community. The webcast is available here.
He began his address with a poem by Tom Wayman, “Did I Miss Anything,” setting a humorous yet reflective tone for the event, then spoke on “active liberty”–the participation of citizens in the democratic process–and the reasons behind writing his book, Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution (2005), which included showing students the connection between themselves and their government. “What’s the most important thing we want to teach students?” he asked. “Democracy.”
He continued, “The Constitution is not a document designed to solve the problems of the community at any level—local, state, or national. Rather it is a document that trusts people to solve those problems themselves. And it creates a framework for a government that will help them to do so. Continue Reading »
