I noticed this quote from Jeffrey Rosen, a lawyer and legal scholar, on SCOTUSblog — the eminent service that a-politically covers everything the Supreme Court is doing and what it all means.
I found Rosen’s statement (which I’ll quote below this) both obvious and startling. And although couched in undramatic and clear language, it is a big, big challenge to all citizens. I’d love to believe they will take up the challenge.
Here’s the quote: “We all as citizens have an obligation to educate ourselves about the Supreme Court, about the Constitution, so that we can participate in the great conversation that is the Constitution.”
Underneath is the SCOTUSblog link, an excellent video talk by Mr. Rosen, in which he introduces us to a bust of the Justice he most greatly admires, Louis Brandeis, and takes off from there, talking about one key Brandeis dissent re unwarranted searches (searches and warrants have to do with the Fourth Amendment).
There’s a short bio of Mr. Rosen and a statement of his purpose in doing the videos.
SCOTUSblog on camera: Jeffrey Rosen (Part four)
Posted: 17 Jun 2015 10:35 AM PDT
“We all as citizens have an obligation to educate ourselves about the Supreme Court, about the Constitution, so that we can participate in the great conversation that is the Constitution.”
Jeffrey Rosen is president and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, as well as a law professor at the George Washington University Law School, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a legal journalist and author. He is a graduate of Yale Law School, Oxford University (where he was a Marshall Scholar), and Harvard College.
In this five-part interview, Rosen discusses his background and his work at the National Constitution Center; the importance and accessibility of our founding documents; the Constitution, historical understanding and facing new technological questions; admiring Justice Louis D. Brandeis; and exhorting citizens to explore constitutional – rather than political – questions.