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Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism not Textualism
Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism not Textualism
Stephen Breyer, Retired Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
April 11, 2024 // 6:00 pm //
Cost: FREE No tickets required.
Springfield Symphony Hall, 34 Court St. Springfield, MA
Like all Springfield Public Forum events, this event is free to the public with no tickets required. There is on-street metered parking, free parking at MGM Springfield two blocks away, or a parking garage right next to Springfield Symphony Hall under I-91 at 1620 E. Columbus Ave, Springfield. If you park in the garage under I-91, you can receive $2 parking. Simply pay for your parking in the lobby of Symphony Hall at the event. Cash only and exact change appreciated.
DOORS WILL OPEN AT 5:00 P.M.
Please note that all of our events have security screenings at the entrance to Symphony Hall. Please do not bring backpacks or large bags.
Justice Breyer’s new book is a provocative, brilliant analysis by recently retired Supreme Court Justice that deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current Supreme Court’s supermajority and makes the case for a better way to interpret the Constitution.
The relatively new judicial philosophy of textualism dominates the Supreme Court, claiming that the right way to interpret the Constitution and statutes is to read the text carefully and examine the language as it was understood at the time the documents were written.
This, however, is not Justice Breyer’s philosophy nor has it been the traditional way to interpret the Constitution since the time of Chief Justice John Marshall. Justice Breyer recalls Marshall’s exhortation that the Constitution must be a workable set of principles to be interpreted by subsequent generations.
Most important in interpreting law, says Breyer, is to understand the purposes of statutes as well as the consequences of deciding a case one way or another. He illustrates these principles by examining some of the most important cases in the nation’s history, among them the Dobbs and Bruen decisions from 2022 that he argues were wrongly decided and have led to harmful results.
Stephen Breyer is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court who served there for twenty-eight years until retiring in 2022. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Copies of the Justice’s new book can be purchased and picked up at the event HERE.
Presented free to the public thanks to Presenting Sponsor:
