Transcripts For CSPAN Justice Ginsburg On A Meaningful Life 20170220

Monday morning. Join the discussion. Discussedder ginsburg her life and career out of four of at Stanford University at a forum at Stanford University. [applause] good evening. It is my very great pleasure to welcome you to Memorial Church for this years lecture on a Meaningful Life. Tonight, we are deeply honored to have as our speaker associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ice of the supreme couf the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg. [applause] on the last day of his business law class one spring, the lecture was such a success that it turned into an annual tradition at stanford for many years until the professor retired. It was revived in 2008, supported by a generous gift to the office of religious life by the foundation for global communities, which established the henry and Amelia Rathbun bond fund for exploring for what leads to a Meaningful Life. Year, a visiting fellow is selected to come to stanford to deliver this lecture and to spend time with our faculty, students and staff. World, and in a time of great change in our country, this lecture provides us a welcome moment for self reflection and moral inquiry. We are so fortunate this year to have Ruth Bader Ginsburg as our rathbun visiting fellow. Many of you know her by another rpg. Er as the notorious notorious rbg. [applause] that name got its start several years ago in a tumbler blog could together by an admiring law student, and it just took off from there. Today, Justice Ginsburg find yourself not only a member of our nations highest court, but a cultural phenomenon as well. Brooklyn, Justice Ginsburg received her bachelors degree from Canal University and her law degree from Columbia Law School. She was professor of law at Rutgers University from 1963 to 1972, and a Columbia Law School from 1972 to 1980. She cofounded the womens rights project of the American Civil Liberties union, and she served as the aclu general counsel from 1973 to 1980. She was appointed to the United States court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit in 1980. President clinton nominated her as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat on the court in 1993. These biographical facts come nowhere close to adequately describing the person. There really arent sufficient words to describe the impact she and on thethe law advancement of womens rights in america. Pioneering, daring. They are all true. But they still dont capture it. Justice ginsburg went to law school in an era in the 1950s when very few women did. She faced in norma was challenges as a woman and as a mother in pursuing her career in that era. She then turned her career to the cause of battling discrimination on behalf of women everywhere. At Columbia Law School, she became the schools first tenured female professor. Project,mens rights she argued six cases before the Supreme Court. Centraled an absolutely role in establishing contemporary law on equal protection as it relates to equality between the sexes. Many in fact have called her the Thurgood Marshall of womens rights. She was the second woman to join United States Supreme Court serving at the time with Justice Sandra day oconnor who has also been a rathbun visiting fellow. Justice ginsburg will be in conversation tonight with the dean for religious life and professor of religious studies here at stanford. Professor shop previously taught at oxford for 16 years, and just before coming to stanford, she in the dean of the cathedral san francisco. We look forward to an insightful and engaging conversation. And now, if you will, please join me in welcoming to stanford Justice Ruth Bader inspired. Ruth bader ginsburg. [applause] Justice Ginsburg thank you. Thank you, thank you very much. Please be seated. I thought it might be an appropriate beginning to tell you a little bit about my life, and what im going to say to you comes from a book called my own words. It is the preface all in my own words. Did you always want to be a judge . Or more exorbitantly, a Supreme Court justice . School children who visit me at the court as they do at least weekly ask that question more than any other. It is a sign of huge progress , judge todays youth served as an aspiration for a girl is not at all outlandish. Contrast the ancient days in 1956 when i entered law school. Women wear then less than 3 of the lawyers in the United States. Servede woman had ever on a federal appellate court. She was florence allen, appointed by Franklin Delano roosevelt to the court of appeals for the sixth circuit. By the time i got to law school, she was retired and then there were none. Today, about half the nations law students and more than one third of our federal judges are women, including three of the nine seated on the u. S. Supreme court bench. Women hold more than 30 of u. S. Law school dean ships and serve as general counsel to took quite fortune 5004 of companies. In my long life, i have seen great changes. How fortunate i was to be a live and a lawyer when for the first time in u. S. History it became the equal citizens of stature of men and women. Now there is a page out of place. Bear with me and moment. Should be not too far from here. If it is skipped, we will go on to the next one. About teachers who influenced or encouraged me in my growing up years, at cornell university, the european literature professor vladimir knockoff nabokov. Could paint pictures i learned from him. Choosing the right word in the right word order he illustrated could make an anonymous difference in conveying an image or an idea. From constitutional law professor and american ideals professor, i learned of our nations enduring values, and staring forress was them in the red scare years of the 1950s. Also, how lawyers could remind lawmakers that our constitution shields the right to think, without fear of reprisal from government authorities. School, foraw besser Benjamin Kaplan was my first and favorite teacher. He used the socratic method in ,is civic procedure class always to stimulate, never to wound. He was the model i tried to follow in my own law teaching until 1980. 963 at a Columbia Law School, who later served under the stanford law faculty. He was determined to place me in a federal courtship, despite what was then viewed as a grave impediment. On graduation, i was the mother of a fouryearold child. Mission,ded in that and in later years litigated cases in or headed to the spring court. And dealing with sticky legal issues. Me find failed to help the right path. Another often asked question when i speak in public do you have some good advice you might share with us . Yes i do. [laughter] motherinlaw. Y advice she gave me on my wedding day. , it helpsood marriage sometimes to be a little death deaf. I have followed that advice assiduously not only at home through 56 years of a marital partnership, i have employed it as well in every workplace, including the Supreme Court of the United States. When i thought i saw unkind words spoken, best tune out. Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance ones ability to persuade. Advice my father in law had also served me well. Yearse it during my gap 19541956. My husband marty was fulfilling his obligation to the army as an all generally officer desk as an artillery officer. 1954, we look for to becoming three in july 1955. Lawrried about starting school the next year with an infant to care for. Ruth, if you dont want to start law school, you have a good reason to resist the undertaking. No one will think less of you if you make that choice. But if you really want to study law, you will stop worrying and you will find a way to manage to go to school. Engaging ad quite nanny on school days from 8 00 to 4 00. Many times after when the road was rocky, i thought back to fathers wisdom, spent no time dotting, and found a way to what i thought was important to get done. Worklife balance was the term in the years my children were young. It is aptly descriptive of the Time Distribution i experienced. , i havess in law school no doubt, was due in large member in large measure to baby jane, my daughter. I took classes and studied diligently until 4 00 in the afternoon. The next hours were james time janes time. Reading picture books and a a. Ilne poems bathing and feeding her. After her bedtime, i returned to renewedschool with vigor. Each gave me a sense of proportion that classmates trained only on the law. I have had more than a little bit in life, but nothing equal to my magnitude in marriage. Words adequate to describe my supersmart, exuberant, ever loving spouse. Early on in our marriage, it became clear to him that cooking was not my strong suit. [laughter] appreciationsting of our food loving children, we became four in 1965 when my son james was born. Marty made the kitchen his domain and became chef supreme friendsome, on loan to even at the court. Marty coached me through the birth of our friend. He was the first critic of the present drafted. He was at my side constantly in and out of the hospital during two long bouts with cancer. I betray no secret in reporting that without him, i would not have gained a seat on the u. S. Supreme court. Then associate white House Counsel ron klein said of my 1993 nomination i would say for the record though Ruth Ginsburg should have been picked for the Supreme Court anyway, she would not have been picked if her husband had not done everything he did to make it includedhat everything gaining the unqualified support of my home state senator, Daniel Patrick moynihan, and enlisting of the of many members academy as a practicing bar familiar with what i had done. I have several times said that the office i hold, now nearing 24 years, is the best and most consuming job a lawyer anywhere could have. Is tourts main job repair fractures in federal law, to step in when other courts have disagreed on what is the relevant federal law required. Does whate court other jurists have divided over , theeeting of the statute questions we take up our rarely easy. They seldom have indubitably right answers. Yet by reasoning to gather at our conferences, and with more , weh than precision ultimately agree far more often than we divide sharply. , 20152016 term, we were unanimous at least on the bottom line judgment in 25 of the 67 cases decided at the full briefing. In contrast, we divided fivethree or 43. Justice scalias death death reduced the number of justices to eight. We divided sharply only eight times. When justices have the firm view that the majority got it wrong, she is free to say so in dissent. I take advantage of that prerogative. I think it is important, as to my colleagues. Disagreementsrong on cardinal issues, for example Clinical Campaign spending, access to the ballot, affirmative action, access to abortion, samesex marriage. We genuinely respect each other and enjoy each others company. Collegiality is key to the success of our mission. We cannot do the job the constitution assigns to us if we didnt, to use one of Justice Scalias favorite expressions, get over it. [laughter] all of us revere the constitution. We aim to ensure that when we leave the court, the third branch of government will be in as good shape as it was when we joined it. , i spoke of great changes i have seen in womens occupations. Yet one must of knowledge the still bleak part of the picture. Most people in poverty in the United States and the world over are women and children. Ns earnings here with comparative education and experience, our workplaces do not adequately accommodate the demands of childbearing and child rearing area we have yet to devise effective ways to ward off Sexual Harassment at work, and Domestic Violence in our homes. Optimistic that the Movement Toward enlisting this talent of all who compose we the , asle, will continue expressed by my great colleague, the first woman to serve on the u. S. Supreme court, Justice Sandra day oconnor, for both men and women, the first step in getting power is to become visible to others. And then, to put on an impressive show. As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women can see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we will all be better off for it. Expectation, i can only say amen. [laughter] [applause] Justice Ginsburg, it is a huge pleasure and honor to have you with us. Thank you for accepting my invitation. Designedun program is to foster thinking about what it means to lead a Meaningful Life. You have said some things about that already. Could you encapsulate what that means to me to lead a Meaningful Life for you . Simply, it means doing something outside yourself. If you are willing to be a lawyer and just act as your profession, you have a skill. You are very much like a plumber. If you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside of yourself. Yourhing to repair community, something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than you. That is what i think a Meaningful Life is. One lives not just for oneself, but for once community. That is wonderful, thank you. Do you think that is the same as a purposeful life . Justice ginsburg yes. I think the purpose of what you aim for. How does family play a part in your own life and your own meaning in your life . Its a veryburg large part. It is one of the things that brought Justice Scalia and i together, because we both care a lot about families. Change in life in the United States between the birth of my daughter in 1955 and my son in 1965. When my daughter jane started school, i was one of a very few working moms. 10 years later, there had been an enormous change. It was not at all unusual to have two other families by the middle 60s. That made me realize that it would be possible for the first law in history, to move the in the direction of what i felt equal citizenship stature for men and women. About that. Talk about your own experience and how it lead you to the work. In the daysburg when i want to law school, entering class at harvard, it was over 500 students. Only nine were women. No antidiscrimination laws. Employers were totally upfront any lady we dont want lawyers here. We once hired a woman, she was dreadful. And how many men have you hired that didnt live up to your expectation . [laughter] Justice Ginsburg things we did complain about. Had nineaw school, we women. There were two teaching buildings at the time. Only one of them had a womens bathroom. You can imagine if you were in class. It is much worse fear taking a three or four hour exam and had to make the mad to the other building. We never complained. That is just the way things were. Movement had revived in the United States, in part as a result of the civil rights movement, but also as part of a worldwide movement. The u. N. Had declared International Womens year. Things were changing all over. Possible tocame into separate sphere mentality. The womens place was with the family, taking care of the home, and the mans place was outside. He was the representative of the family outside the home. Many of our laws were designed to fit that model of the stayathome woman and the workaday man. A decade of the 70s, almost all of the laws of that time were gone. Aboutld you like to talk one or two of the cases that were most important in that . Justice ginsburg maybe i can speak about two cases. The first one was the turning point about one case. Until 1971, the Supreme Court never saw a genderbased classification that it didnt think was ok. If we take the years of the liberal war in court warren court. What we would today call an abused, battered woman. Her abusive and philandering husband one day had deleted her to the breaking point. Spied her young sons baseball bat in the corner of the room, lifted it up, and with all her might, hit him on the head. He fell on the stone floor. And their altercation, beginning of the murder prosecution. In those days, in hell broke out. , hillsboro county there was something wrong about that. Jury including women would have acquitted her, but she thought they might better understand her state of mind. Her rage at the moment. Ofbe they would convict her the lesser crime of manslaughter instead of murder. She was convicted of murder. When the case came to the Supreme Court, the absence of women on the jury rolls. Gwendolyn hoyt, women have the best of both worlds. We dont call them for jury duty, but if they come in and sign up, we will put them there. How many men do you think would sign up if they had the choice . It. Supreme court didnt get the case of a woman who owned a cavern and her daughter was a bartender. Said a womanthat cannot tend bar and less she was the wife or daughter of the bar owner. Treated thatourt case as part of the backing away from attempting to put down economic and social legislation. That is how the case was talk when i went to law school. It was the retreat from the days men who gave president Franklin Roosevelt such a hard time. That is what the president was precedent was. Leaf came along. Sally had a young son. Separatedr husband and later divorced. Of tenderoy was years, sally got custody. Teens,e boy reached his the father came to the court and said this boy should be prepared and i want torld be the custodian. Sally was a distressed. The boy became depressed and took out one of his fathers unsiguns and can many g and committed suicide. Be the inheritor of his estate. Her husband applied a few weeks later. The Probate Court told sally from boise, idaho the law of the state of idaho, which idaho had copied from california but california already changed its personsread, as between preferred tobe females. It was an obvious reason for that because in the days before the marriage womens property acts were passed, a woman cannot contract in her own name. She would be sued on her own property. If you had a choice between the able man and the disabled woman, it makes sense to choose the man. Sally thought that was wrong. She was in everyday woman who made her living by caring for elderly or infirm people. Thought it was wrong and we had a legal system that is considered right. On her own dime, she did that case to three levels of the became theaho and it turning point in the Supreme Court. After that there was a succession of cases, some brought by women and some by men. Is stephenase watsonville whose wife was a math teacher in high school. She had a healthy pregnancy. The doctor came out to tell stephen that he had delivered a healthy baby boy but his wife had died of an invalid from embalism. Stephen was a distressed. He vowed he would not work fulltime until his child was in school fulltime. Parttime out between earnings and Social Security benefits he couldnt make it. He went to the Social Security office for what he thought were and hend care benefits was told these are mothers benefit. That case came to the Supreme Court and there was a unanimous judgment but the court divided three ways. This is aty thought discrimination against of the woman as wage earner. She pays the same Social Security taxes as a male wage not net forhey do her family the same protection. Many thought it was a discrimination against the mail as parent male because he had to work fulltime. Chief,ho later became my he was then justice running quest, he said this is totally arbitrary. Why should the baby have the care of a sole surviving parent if the parent is female but not if the parent was male . That case was a perfect illustration with what was wrong with the separate spheres mentality. The women working outside the home did not get equal pay. The man did not have the choice to be a caring parent and the baby would not have the benefit of the love and care of his father. Were cases inases a sense of that the American Civil Liberties union with which i was affiliated with out to find plaintiffs. They were everyday people who thought something wrong has been done and who believed we had a legal system that would responded to that wrong. [inaudible] 1970s, bute the the legislature and court, read the statute books of all the genderbased classifications. When the other six lines were eliminated was unconscious bias, people who did not think of themselves as prejudiced in any way and my classic example for that is the symphony orchestra. Womang up i never saw a in a symphony orchestra. Someone came up with the bright put up a curtain between the people auditioning and the judges. It works like a magic. Women werenight making their way into symphony orchestras. I wish we could duplicate the but curtain in every area it is not that easy. Other illustration i guess is a title vii case from the 70s against at t for not promoting women to jobs in middle management. The middle the women who applied did well on all the standard measures and they made it to the last step which was called the total person test. Interviewer interviewing the candidate for a promotion. Women dropped out to personally. They flung to the total person test, why . Because the interviewer who is almost always a white male was discomforting, someone unfamiliar. Members of a minority race, a woman did not feel at ease when hented with someone did not feel at ease with someone not in his comfort zone. How you get rid of that bias, it remains even today a difficulty. Let me change subjects. You just mentioned symphonies. You famously love opera. You are very keen on the visual arts. About a bookrlier that was very influential on your reading and writing. Can you talk about the place of the arts and the humanities in a Meaningful Life . They are essential. Opera is my passion. Operatell them about an written by a lawsuit law student a couple of years ago, it is called scalia and ginsburg. From yale and he decided in his field it would be good to know about the law. He is taking constitutional law ,nd reading these dual opinions ginsburg for the majority, scalia in dissent. Scalia for the majority, ginsburg in dissent. He decides this could make a very funny comic opera. With a very in denny and rage aria from scalia. The justices line, how can they possibly spout this, the constitution says nothing about it. And then i sing in return that he is searching for bright Line Solutions to problems that dont have easy answers. The great thing about our constitution is that like our society, it can involve evolve. The plot is roughly based on the magic flute. Astice scalia is locked in dark room where he is being punished for excessive dissenting. Out ando help him get the figures that lock him up is having a little bit of a resemblance to Don Giovannis commendatory. He says, why do you want to help him, he is your enemy and then i say, no, he is my good friend. Called weng a duet are different, we are one. One in our reverence for the constitution and the institution that we serve. Opera is my passion but also the aider theatre. The district of columbia is blessed with a number of fine museums, most recently the African American museum. C. The years i was on the d. D circuit, the National Gallery was right across the street. I kid have lunch and sit in my room and feel i was in my own palace. In england there is a bbc Radio Program where you get to choose eight pieces of music to take to a desert island. Perhaps you could choose one that you couldnt live without if you are on a desert island. I would have to pick two. Mozart figaro and don giovanni. Opera. Talked about the you and Justice Scalia. That is part of the importance and youto collegiality talk about the way in which your colleagues and the court are ollegialck wheel c with each other. Happily expand that to a more Public Discourse . Up, thei was growing first branch is very different than it is today. 1903persisted act until when president clinton nominated , ito do the job i now hold had been general counsel to the American Civil Liberties union for several years. Favor. E was 963 in my my biggest supporter on the Judiciary Committee was senator biden. Was not the then chair senator biden, although he was certainly in my favor, but it was senator orrin hatch. Meont think he would touch with a 10 foot pole today. We are still friends, but if it came to a vote on me, i dont think he would be the support that he was in 1993. And stephen breyer, when he was nominated the next year, it was well into the 90s. They voted in his favor. It is not been that way for the most recent members of the court. Way i could was a wave a magic wand and put it back when people were respectful and the congress was working for the good of the country and not just along party lines. Someday there will be great people, great elected representatives who will say , letsof this nonsense be the kind of legislature the United States should have. I hope that they will come while i am still alive. [applause] your husband as you said was a great cook. Eating together is one way we can have collegiality and talk well across the differences. Do you have a memorable meal you would like to tell us about . I will describe one meal that was a great challenge. We celebrated new years eve together. He was a great hunter and he would kill and be and we would have them listen. This particular new years he killed a wild boar. Finding a recipe that would be palatable, that was a real challenge for marty. But he did it. We are going to open up to student questions in a moment. I want to point out the topiary that says i dissent. And it says and it has me on the other side. This is the name of a book by debi leiby who is a lawyer but decided, all things considered, she would rather bright childrens books rather write childrens books. The publishers like her book so much that they made these tote bags. Thelso because of the book yourious albie g lbg, are not just a public figure, you are an amazing public figure to every generation. How is that . Copied, thewhat was rbg, it is the notorious b. I. G. , the famous rapper. Was created,his perfectly understandable, we have something in common. You have something in common with the notorious b. I. G. . Yes, we were both born and bred in brooklyn, new york. Starting that is a good example of how young people should react to things they dont like. This was a secondyear student at in life you want school and when the Supreme Court decided county case, a case that declared a key part of the Voting Rights act of 19 65 unconstitutional, she was angry. Then she decided anger is a useless emotion. It is not advance your cause . Start this she would and it began with my dissenting opinion in the Shelby County case. Off from there. You are a role model for many people, who have your role that been . Not toong up there and many because women were hardly there. I had one real and one fictitious. The real one was a millionaire heart, and the fictitious one was me as he drew amerlia aireheart and the second was nancy drew. I met the first woman to serve on a District Court. By thee she got time i got to the d. C. Circuit she was in her 90s and i would lunch with her whenever i could to hear her stories. She had been counseled to the national womans party, she had gone to law school at night, she participated in the suffragist and she picketed the white house but she would never say a word. She would hold of her sign, votes for women and would not speak if she was hassled by the police because she did not want to risk her chances for admission to the bar. Decided chief justice the Supreme Court should not be held inside the capital as it was until 1935 but should have its own building, the site on which the Supreme Court now stands was occupied, a good part of it, by the headquarters of the National Womens party. The government condemned to the this is just a ramshackle old building, it is not worth anything. She called and they witness of the older inhabitants of d. C. Who testified that not only was it that site the temporary capital when the capital burned during the war of 1812, it was also a prison for notorious pies. Derates lies sp she produced a photograph of a most notorious confederates by who happened confederate spy who happened to be a woman. They gave the largest condemnation award that the u. S. Government had ever taken. She was a woman from mississippi. She spoke with a soft, southern accent. Cuffsre a lace collar and but she was a woman of real st eel. What it was like to caket was a piece of compared to what it was like for those women. Mentors . No women were teaching in law school when i went to law school. No living teaching in the arts college in cornell no women teaching in the arts college in cornell. Captivated bywas the way the class was conducted. There was a woman i met much later. She was a southern graduate and her name was shirley. She was a judge on the u. S. Circuit,appeals, ninth the second in history. She was appointed by president johnson and thenpresident carter made her the first ever secretary of the department of education. She launched that department and did an excellent job. It was more than rumored that if carter had a vacancy on the Supreme Court she would fill it. Lady whench a great it turned out that carter would not have a Supreme Court seeking to fill. Herid have a reception in and he invited all the women he had afforded, over 25 to District Courts and 11 to courts of appeals and he said at that reception that he hoped he would be remembered in history for changing the complexion of the federal judiciary. He did and no president ever went back to the way it once was. Herly, when i got to know was what you would call a role model and a mentor. You have been good at saying important that is to that to do that for women throughout your career . Yes. Thank you for that. I think there are lots of students who would like to ask question. Im going to invite it is to come to the central microphone i want to invite students to come to the central microphone. Please state your name and what class you are in. Question, sophomore, graduate student. Please ask only one question. Express the question as briefly as you can and however passionate you are resisted the urge to make a statement as well. That way more of your classmates can ask questions. That we are all delighted that Justice Ginsburg is here and we will take that as a given. You dont need to present every question with how delighted you are. I think she knows. Thank you for that. Justice ginsburg has asked me to remind you that she cannot answer questions on certain topics as follows. She cannot answer any question about any issue pending before the court or likely to come before the court which would include the legality of recent. Xecutive orders she is just not allowed to talk about it, ok . Nor can she make any comment on the current nominee to the Supreme Court. If you could follow those rules, theyll be great so she doesnt have to take note to you. Say no to you. First questions, are they ready . I think someone is going to help. In the meantime someone is going to help fix Justice Ginsburgs microphone a little bit. I have many questions so that the students dont have any questions i can keep going. My name is alice. I am a graduate student here not in the law school. I wanted to ask you, what would you recommend right now for the young people around here to get involved in those issues that floating right now or more general issues for womens rights that are around. We have a diversity of Public Interest groups in the United States. Example,d take my own i was a flaming feminist and the question was how can i make a different . Difference . I decided i would affiliate with the American Civil Liberties union because it was the premier Civil Liberties defender in the United States. It has concerned that with arson minute questions, free speech, press, freedom of religion. Tohought it was appropriate get into the business of equality both racial and gender. Alonehard to do anything but if you get together with likeminded people, join organizations, if you feel passionate about the environment, there are any number of organizations you can affiliate with. Is jorge quinto and i have a masters in computer science. People0 years from now are talking about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but you want them to remember . That i was a judge. [laughter] who worked as hard as she ability the best of her to do the job right. [applause] my name is sasha and i am a freshman. I was wondering, you spoke about deafness ande of outwould you balance that with things that seem wrong to you. She is asking, you give the advice is that your motherinlaw had a given you, choose to be deaf sometimes. How do you balance that when when you need to speak out . To what other people say, not to what i say. The one thing you dont do is react in anger or annoyance. A sense of humor helps enormously. Example, i was on a case for a threejudge federal court in trenton, new jersey. It was a gender discrimination case and one of the judges asked me a question, women have an equal chance today, even in a military they do, dont they . I answered, your honor, the air force does not get Flight Training to women. He responded, oh my dearest to dont tell me that. Women have in the air forever. Pig. Ou dont say sexist you say yes your honor and i know many men who dont have their feet planted firmly on the. Round i am jordan. I am a freshman. I was wondering how you define your relationship with other female justices on the court and healthy friendships have propped you up throughout your life. Sandra day oconnor was the to being a big sister to me as one could wish for. , she did notustice try to douse me with lots of information. She just told me what i did to know to get by those first few weeks. Me. She was important to had colon cancer sandra had Breast Cancer and was on the bench nine days after her massive surgery. She advised me, youre going to get so much mail and so many well. Wishers. Dont answer them. Concentrate on getting well. On the first monday in october i andto we between my surgery when the court began. Scheduleid, be sure to your chemotherapy for friday that you can get over it during the weekend. Had excellent report with the chief. That he had once invaded her. Had once dated her. I feltle colleagues, good having been there. Mayor and justice and justictomayor an years, Justice Scalia and Justice Sotomayor were in competition over who would ask of the most questions. Out quite awed her bit but nowadays she wins hands down. I am a freshman. I was wondering if any of the ways in you approached adversity in your professional career helps you in combating any challenges you faced as a mother and in your courageous battle with cancer . Never to have a defeatist attitude. I told the story earlier this my model when i had pancreatic cancer was the mezo meadow soprano soprano. She said i will live. Not that i hope to live. That was my attitude. I was going to beat this. One of the things i did after ut, i did a few announcementst because i was trying to encourage women to get colonoscopies. Women think of a Breast Cancer and they think of a varying cancer but they dont realize what a killer of women colon cancer can be. Is, i am going to surmount this, whatever it is. The same thing when my husband had cancer at a very young age. We never talked about the possibility of getting up. Ng up. I we took each day at a time and then did the best we could. [applause] is aliia. I was raised on a small travel community in new mexico called Santa Domingo press club. Pueblo. Domingo visitedsonia sotomayor us when i was a child. My question is what type of people do you speak to and what type of people do you aim to inspire . To students from the second grade to the postgraduate level. We are often visited by school groups. I speak to about half a dozen lawsuits law schools every year. Stanford, i was at the Virginia Military Law Institute which is done a great job in integrating women. Im a sophomore. My question for you is, i find myself in arguments a lot and im curious to know how you see best to construct a sound inument that is purposeful persuading people from the other sites to get on board with you . We are trying to persuade each other all the time. It begins when we are considering what request or review to grant. Questionsal argument not just to elicit a response from a lawyer but to elicit a colleagues thinking. Then we have our conference where we go around the table and say how we think the case should come out. Then it continues. Beatimes if you cant persuaded cant be persuaded assigned awas once defensive by my senior colleague john paul stevens, it was a dissent for two. It came down 63. Six. Wo had swelled to every time im in defense, im hoping there will be a repeal. It hasnt happened yet, but hope springs eternal. My name is julia. I am a graduate student. Has there ever been a time when you have been on the Supreme Court when you took a side that was opposite your personal morals because he thought the constitution was on the other side . Queen, there would be no Death Penalty. Part, i dont do what Justice Brennan and marshall do in saying the Death Penalty in violationstances is a of the eighth amendment banning cruel and unusual punishment. Instead i take part in those and do the best i can to move it along in the direction in which it seems to be going. Think i mentioned last year across the country there were only 20 executions compared to 80 20 years ago. Within five states that hold executions, only particular. Ounties from nigeriaior and i am studying chemical ,ngineering and my question is you mentioned you wanted to see the currently have in society now. Good the Supreme Court play a more vocal role in speaking for the public rather than the traditional role they have held in society . The Supreme Court is a totally reactive institution. One court of appeals the judge dont makel judges the complications, they do what they can to put them out. We do not have an agenda. We dont say this year we are going to take care of samesex marriage or voter ids. We respond to petitions that come up in cases that began at least two levels before. The first thing i will read it to them for myself is what other judges said about the case. We dont have any agenda of our own. When other courts divide on where the law of the United States. That is what we see as our principal mission. To keep the law of the nine states of the united in uniform. I am a first Year Law School student. This is a constitutional law dostion but i was wondering you believe the presence of Law Enforcement officials at a peaceful protest about or rally depends on peoples First Amendment right . Do i think the presence of Law Enforcement officers at if they are welltrained, if they know people have the right to speak their minds, they are there to make sure there is no violence so i think properly Trained Police are tremendously important. Protestsn the recent in washington dc we saw that working very well. Respectful of the people who had come to protest. I am jonathan. I am a freshman. You and Justice Scalia were obviously very good friend. What we do you say that the biggest lessons were that you guys talk each other taught each other . We both talked it was important not only to get the right results but to write in such a way that at least other judges and lawyers would understand. Sometimes criticize an opinion of his interest and say this is so over the top you are not going to be persuasive. I couldnt always persuade him to tone it down and he would correct my grammatical errors. [applause] my name is britney simpson. You have been a part of and witness to many advancements for women. What you think is the biggest threat facing women or gender equity today . I mentioned the question of unconscious bias. It is not so easy to overcome. We dont have in the world of employment nearly the flexibility that we should have. I had envisioned that in this electronic age when you have the entire law library at your fingertips that it would be much easier for employers to accommodate. But it will take women and men who care about this to make the change in the law firms mentality. I know it is possible because i was married to a man who was a partner in a very large law firm. Everyone in the Tax Department which he headed, everyone was gone by 7 00 because that was the time to be home for dinner. In the department, the culture was you had dinner at the firm, you come back and work. It can be done and i think law firms will be much healthier places and to do as well financially if they accommodate their employees and to make it comfortable. Comfortable to have a balanced life. My name is jesse and im a junior here. As it applies to both primacyalized and the of justice, dear men do you believe we are masters of our own fate . I worked hard to do the best i can and a little bit of luck and divine grace can certainly help. I am a phd student in chinese literature. Areilicon valley, people optimistic about the potential of artificial intelligence. Some speculate with increasing automation there will be less and less of jobs and they suggest the idea of universal basic income. As a justice, what do you think of that idea . I think it is a grave concern. I think we have to do a much better job than we do now to educate students into what they , to haveth their lives the skills to be part of this electronic age. Im a senior and recently with all the changes happening a lot of people have been expressing encouragement that you eat more kale said to speak. That you can continue doing the Public Service work you are doing for as long as possible. Kaleo you want to eat more in washington . Justice kennedy. [applause] [laughter] [applause] there are three of us on the Current Court who are well beyond what the french call a certain age. Prior, and justice me. Edy and to me and a very important part of my life is my personal trainer who has been with me since 1999 and now trains Justice Elena kagan and justice breyer. I am majoring in human biology and i am a sophomore. You talked much today about your friendship with Justice Scalia. Do you have a favorite dispute with him that you remember especially fondly . His dissenting opinion in the Virginia Military Institute Case is quite over the top. Were exchanging drafts, this is a good example of our relationship. I circulated the opinion for the court. I am about to go off to my circuit judicial conference when scalia comes into my chambers and throws down a piece of paper and says ruth this is the in thisate dissent case. It is not ready to circulate to the court. I wanted to give you as much time as i can to respond. I put it on the plane. It absolutely ruined my weekend. Time appreciated the extra i had. I am quoting the university of virginia case. It wasnt until 1970 that the university of virginia at charlottesville began to admit women. There was a case in the District Court and i referred to the university of virginia at shaws milk. A note comes back, there is no university of virginia at charlottesville, theres only the university of virginia. Then i put the university of virginia at charlottesville in quotations. A very finefrom district judge the Eastern District of virginia. It made a difference it made no difference. He still kept it. I think we have time for one more question. What an honor. Justice ginsburg, im studying computer science. Today you remarked that the great thing about the constitution is it can evolve with a society. I think there are core values of this nation that should be protected. Which beliefs and values of the society do you believe must be changed, which must remain and happy do and how do you distinguish one from the other . [applause] some things i would like to change, one is the electoral college. [applause] that would require a ,onstitutional amendment which amending our constitution is powerfully hard to do as i know from the struggle of the equal rights amendment which itself which fell three states shy. Shalls enduring, Congress Pass no law respecting freedom of speech or the press. That right to speak your mind and not worry about big brother government coming down on you and telling you the right way to think, speak and write. That is tremendously important. I got to see how important it was when i was going to college in the heyday of senator mccarthy. There were people who helped bring us back to the way it equality, nor shall any state to deny to any person the equal protection of the law. An idea that was included in the constitution in 1868 with the 14th amendment. It was not in the original constitution. I think most of you know why even though our declaration of independence says all men are created equal. Put equality in or theginal constitution bill of rights because of the. Tain of slavery i explain it in terms of the opening words of the 9 the constitution, we people of the United States in order to poor in order to form a more perfect union. We started with we the people in 1787. A rather small class, they are white, male and they own property. Look at we the people today. Ook at all the people native americans were not part of we the people, women were not part of the political constituency until the 19th so thatt was adopted the idea that we the people is civembrace of term embra term that covers everyone that dwells in this fair land. That is a major theme of our constitution today. It is also a very good note on which to end. Thank you very much. [applause] [cheers] [applause] [cheers] thank you so much. Thank you. [applause] [cheers] tomorrow the british house of commons hold the debate on whether to cancel president trumps visit. The petition received over 1. 8 million votes. A rival petition received more than 114,000 votes. The British Government says they still plan to hold the state visit. Live coverage of the debate begins that 11 begins at 11 30 a. M. On cspan. Monday night on the communicators, National Association of broadcasters ceo gordon smith looks at the future of television as a new republican control fcc makes changes. Mr. Smith is interviewed by Technology Reporter amir nassar. Holds enormous promise for the american people, for the consumers. Datacasting. O it lets you do the best pictures out there. And internet operability. I think his making that, putting that up their on their nprm ealendars, suggests het gets the value to the american people. Watch the communicators at 8 00 on cspan 2. Historians discuss the results of cspans president ial leadership survey, which is available on our website at www. Cspan. Org. This is one hour and 20 minutes. Cspan has just released our third survey of president ial leadership, looking at 10 different qualities of leadership and ranking the president s to 43 men who served as president of the United States from George Washington through barack obama. We are pleased to be joined this morning by our three academic advisors to the project will stuff from the west coast, doug ,rinkley with Rice University president ial biographer Richard Norton smith from grand rapids, michigan, and here in washington, it is edna the chair of the History Department h