09.24.2017 - By Joe Miller and Christian Turner
With Charles Barzun, we discuss Justice Souter and the nature of legal justification. But we take the long way around to get there, starting with some of Souter’s opinions, moving on to philosophy – the nature of moral reasoning and its relation to fact and intuition – and then back to legal theory and Charles’s insight concerning Justice Souter’s jurisprudence.
This show’s links:
Charles Barzun’s faculty profile and writing
Charles Barzun, Justice Souter’s Common Law
Justice Souter’s discussion of Plessy and the role of history in judging (watch from minute one until about minute fourteen) and his Harvard Commencement speech on Plessy
Some Souter opinions Joe loves: Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Markman v. Westview Instruments, and California Dental Assoc. v. Federal Trade Commission
Old Chief v. United States; Oyez’s Old Chief page, including links to the oral argument and hand-down
Planned Parenthood v. Casey; Oyez’s Casey page, including links to the oral argument and hand-down
John Burnett, Border Patrol Arrests Parents While Infant Awaits Serious Operation
Noah Feldman’s Constitution Day interview of Justice Souter
Special Guest: Charles Barzun.