Posted on 03/07/2006 8:49:38 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said Tuesday the high court has more discussion and debate behind closed doors with its two new members.
Breyer, though, said the court "seems to be running very well" under Chief Justice John Roberts, and he doesn't think the extra discussion is a major change.
"Perhaps it has to do with younger people," Breyer, 67, told reporters at a news conference before he was to speak at the Clinton Library.
President Bush's first nominee to the court, 51-year-old Roberts, was sworn in last fall, becoming the nation's youngest chief justice in two centuries. He also is considered a conservative protege of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, whom he replaced. Justice Samuel Alito, 55, was confirmed in January.
Breyer said publicity surrounding the latest confirmations has led to greater public interest in the court's operations. That could help justices demystify what they do, he said.
"We're not the CIA. The Supreme Court isn't and shouldn't be a secret place," Breyer said. "It's an opportunity for us to explain what the court is about."
Breyer demurred when asked his opinion about the nominating and confirmation process for the nation's highest court.
"That is like asking for the recipe for chicken a la king from the point of view of the chicken," Breyer said.
Breyer, who was nominated in 1994 by President Clinton, generally sides with liberal members of the court but also has been a swing voter.
"One thing that won't change is that we've all gotten along very well personally, no matter the outcome of cases," Breyer said. "My belief is we will continue to get along personally. As far as personal dynamics, the court works as well as ever."
Breyer said he didn't know if a flurry of recent unanimous decisions indicates that the newly formed court under Roberts was trying harder to agree.
"The more controversial matters tend to pile up by the end of the year," Breyer said. "Unanimity is often a function of what cases come along. If people see eye to eye, it works very well."
At the library event, Breyer said it was "almost inevitable" that the court would televise its proceedings, saying he thinks the court could ease into it the same way it has with audio.
The Supreme Court does not allow cameras, but it does release audio tapes of oral arguments in some cases, including Bush v. Gore arguments in December 2000 when the recount of Florida ballots was contested.
ZZZZzzzz...ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz...
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer speaks with reporters before addressing the Clinton School of Public Service Tuesday, March 7, 2006, in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Mike Wintroath)
The Clinton School of Public Service ?
When you graduate , do they give you kneepads and a certificate?
I believe it's kneepads and a spitoon.
Maybe it is because more Justices are awake now.
ZZZZzzzz...ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz...
You misnterpreted the picture.
She was retying her tennis shoe.
Breyer is speaking at my law school in Little Rock tomorrow. (I wonder if he's worried about his precious partial-birth abortion decision being overturned since Alito replaced O'Connor and a similar case is before the Court?)
The students get to ask questions and it gets pretty heated. Justice Scalia came last year and bit one student's head off. It was great!
Jots?
Fat fingers, jots>joy
Souter once said that a TV camera would "roll into the court over his dead body"...I wanted to say that one could only hope but I figured out that I would get banned so I won't :-)
He is an intelligent man, if somewhat flawed.
No, but you can earn extra credit that way.
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