Thursday, May 1, 2008
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. used the 205th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase to celebrate Kansas in his speech at the Lied Center Monday night.
“Even the most successful business deals come up with some legal problem,” Roberts said.
Roberts said that despite the fact that the most fertile lands in the world were part of the deal, different representations of the constitution almost made the deal fall through. He said if this were the case, Kansas would be much different today.
Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr. speaks at the Lied Center on Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
“Instead of ‘Go Jayhawks,’” Roberts said, “they would be saying ‘Viva La Jayhawks.’”
Roberts said the Supreme Court played a key role in making hard decisions in constitutional law.
Adam Davis, third-year law student, asked Roberts whether he agreed with Judge Scalia that the constitution was dead.
Roberts said the constitution was just a piece of paper. He said although it was one of the most important pieces of paper in American history, the founding fathers created a way to change it.
Joyce McCray Pearson, director of the Wheat Law Library, said the lecture’s design was great because it allowed students to be interactive with the chief justice.
“It made it engaging,” McCray Pearson said, “and the time went by quick.”
Annie Van Allen, Clearwater junior, asked whether the judge felt uncomfortable allowing the first amendment to shield people who do harm to others.
Roberts said the job came with some harsh demands to protect people based on the law and not on personal opinion.
“We’re not elected,” Roberts said, “so if people don’t like what we are doing, it is kind of too bad.”
Roberts said the appointment process was justified because someone had to protect citizens’ constitutional rights even if they were unpopular.
Roberts said separating personal and legal issues was imperative in the Supreme Court, and many aids were available, such as past cases and rules of court, to make sure it achieved that goal.
He said the Supreme Court’s opinions were just another part of the decision-making process. He said they allowed future courts to understand the reasoning of Supreme Court verdicts.
“If we just put out a decision,” Roberts said, “we would not know why we came to the result we settled on.”
Roberts said deals like the Louisiana Purchase show the value of the Supreme Court in building the United States, including Kansas.
Sara Zafar, a third-year law student, said the lecture was not about processes and legal matters as she expected.
“I heard that it was sold out right away, but I didn’t see all the seats filled,” Zafar said. “This is a pretty big deal for the University.”
The sold-out lecture was streamed lived into an auditorium in Budig Hall.
Roberts’ speech was a part of the annual Vickers Memorial Lecture Series in memory of J.A. Vickers Sr., and Robert F. Vickers Sr.
— Edited by Katherine Loeck
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