Friday, October 08, 2010

More SCOTUS

The Supreme Court of the United States (aka SCOTUS) began its new term on Monday with the arrival of a new justice, Elena Kagan, and the absence of another, John Paul Stevens, whom Kagan replaced upon his retirement at age 90.
Justice Stevens was interviewed by Nina Totenberg, NPR's legal correspondent, and this interview was broadcast in two parts on October 4th.
The first part, Justice Stevens: An Open Mind On A Changed Court,  was heard on Morning Edition
7 min 41 sec, transcript available
and the second on All Things Considered.
8 min 59 sec, transcript available
Justice Stevens talks about the working of the Court, how the justices interact, the role of his law clerks, his views on how the constitution should be interpreted, the death penalty and its history before the Court.

Another justice, Stephen Breyer, has recently published another book, Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View and was interviewed on another NPR program, Fresh Air on September 14th. He also talks about his views on interpretation and "originalism", especially the recent gun control case.
34 min 41 sec, transcript available
Justice Stephen Breyer was also interviewed on PBS Newshour on Oct. 7.
9 min 32 sec, transcript available