Making a Case for the American Experiment

Brandishing a pocket-sized copy of the US Constitution, former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer told hundreds of Suffolk University undergraduates and Law School students it was the “most marvelous thing about this country.”  

Breyer, HLLD ’99, who retired from the nation’s highest court in 2022 after serving nearly 28 years, was introduced by Suffolk Law Dean Andrew Perlman as a judge who “embodies the very best of the legal profession and public service.”   

In a forum moderated by Political Science & Legal Studies Professor Gregory Bordelon, Breyer took questions from both undergraduates and law students about his remarkable career.   

Over the course of that career, Breyer has been at the center of many critical legal milestones, including clerking for Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg when the court upheld the 1964 Civil Rights Act; serving as an assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force in 1973; and writing a landmark dissent in the Supreme Court’s Bush v. Gore decision in 2000.   

In all of these controversial and hotly contested moments, the nation held together and moved forward, he said. Reflecting on his position in the high court’s minority on the presidential ballot recount in Florida, he said the decision “affected a lot of people in this country. Many, many thought it was wrong. But regardless, they followed [the decision] and no bricks were thrown in the streets, no paving stones, no French Revolution.” 

Political science student Anthony Gagne asked Breyer about current instability and conflict within the nation’s legal institutions, and what his generation can do.  

“Find someone you believe is intelligent and you entirely disagree with. And talk to them. And really listen,” he said. As unpredictable as the current political climate may be, it’s essential, he said, that students entering the law today continue to cultivate the values of open-mindedness, thoughtful debate with opponents, and compromise.  

Third-year Suffolk Law student Samantha Mazzone asked Breyer about the sudden rise in use of the court’s emergency docket during the current presidential administration.   

Breyer agreed the speed at which the court was increasingly being asked to act was concerning, because many of the issues in question deserve extensive debate, evidence finding, and judicial reflection. 

This was not the justice’s first visit to Suffolk. In 1999, Breyer attended convocation and dedication ceremonies for Suffolk Law’s Sargent Hall building. In closing his talk, he spoke about renewed relevance of the Albert Camus novel The Plague, seen by many as an allegory about resisting the creeping threat of fascism. 

“The rule of law, in my opinion, is one weapon,” he said. “Not the only weapon, but one that human beings have created over many, many, many years to try to keep that plague germ in remission.” 

College of Arts & Sciences Dean Edie Sparks spoke about how Justice Breyer had “shaped law and public life close to home.”   

“It reminds us how important it is to remain committed to civic engagement, how critical it is to find your voice as participants in democracy and how valued your voice is in our form of government,” she said.  

Gagne, a junior, left the forum feeling inspired. “It was such an honor to hear his insights,” he said. “It made me feel as though we do have a promising future in the United States.”