Supreme Court Justice Kennedy Makes Rare Appearance at Law School

GW law students had a rare opportunity to hear Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy speak on the topic of judicial review last week considering that Justices tend to steer clear of public events, remaining insulated from the public.

Justice Kennedy was the keynote speaker for the Fall 2009 Law Review Symposium, and he spoke to an audience of GW law students and alumni late Thursday afternoon.  Tickets for the address were distributed via raffle, and it was part of the two-day symposium event.

Kennedy was a particularly notable choice for the event’s speaker because of his influential central position on the court. Kennedy’s opinion is often the swing vote when the court is split.

Kennedy noted the Supreme Court’s influence over the country through judicial review. “It is an awful power,” he said.  “It is grave.  We can declare the Congress’s and the President’s will to be unconstitutional.”

“Some people think [judicial review] is patronizing or antidemocratic,” Kennedy said. “It may seem antidemocratic, but that is in the short term. The American people come around.”

Despite the weighty decisions Kennedy faces, his enthusiasm for his office is unabated.

“I love my work.  I always enjoy it,” he told the audience, many of whom aspire to practice law professionally.

His love for the law shone as he gave an enlivened history of English Common Law and its effect on the American legal system. He flitted between the lectern and a drawing board, jotting down important dates for his captive audience and offering the law students pointers as well.

“Everyone should read a good translation of the Magna Carta,” he suggested. “It was center stage at the time.”

Kennedy spoke at length about our Constitution, maintaining that every person in the country should know the Constitution.

“We the People unites us over time….Americans are from all different backgrounds but we have this document in common.”

Meredith Madden, a second year law student, secured a ticket to the event through the raffle.

“I was surprised at the way he spoke extemporaneously because these are the great legal thinkers of our time.  There he was just chatting about legal history with no prepared remarks,” she said.

Most surprising to her was demeanor and his personality.  “As a swing voter, people say Justice Kennedy rules the world.  He was really down to earth, it was like hearing your uncle or grandfather speak.”

“Everyone knew how special this was,” Madden said.