And then right after that at 9:00 p. M. Eastern we will premiere my new movie and its first documentary for my new production company a movie called from russia with lev with the absurd story of trump s first impeachment and a lot of stuff you didn t know about. Very excited for you to see about it and now it s time for the last word with lawrence o donnell. We have senator whitehouse joining us tonight after the black buster blockbuster reporting on what is going on inside the supreme court with the chief justices and this is reporting like we have never seen before about how they arrived at that immunity decision. That reporting was based on source documents that don t exist in journalism. I know they exist in the real world, but you never ever see any of the journalism that says based on these documents we obtained from inside the supreme court, it doesn t happen and that is a unicorn. It is really striking to hold that in my hands reading it to think the supreme court is cracking i
A cameo. When we get to the q a part there is a microphone in the back of the room and we will let you know when it is time you will line up there to ask your questions. It is always worthwhile to revisit the documents that set us apart from british rule and created the framework for our government. Our guest speaker, kermit roosevelt, explores these documents and shares interpretation of their meaning and relevance. Professor roosevelt teaches constitutional law at the university of pennsylvania law school. He was born and raised in d. C. And attended harvard and yale. Before joining, he served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice David souter. His book sets standards by which citizens can determine whether the Supreme Court is abusing its authority to interpret the constitution. He also teaches creative writing and is the author of two novels. In the shadow of the law and allegiance. Please join me in a round of applause for professor roosevelt. [applause] thank you. Thank you all
What we were going through then as comparison to whats happening now and also some of the lessons that were learned. Lets start with the court itself in 2000. The Rehnquist Court. Nine members of the court and seven of them have been appointed by republican president s. But how do they align ideologically . David its sort of a 54 conservative court. Rehnquist was a leader. Justice scalia was a prominent figure. It leans right. There were several moderate republicans. John stephens, david souter and Ruth Ginsburg and stephen breyer, four on the left. So it leaned conservative. But it was also an interesting you know, the court the court is never 100 predictable. I found that Justice Kennedy and Justice Oconnor were middle of the road conservatives. And you could not predict them in all sorts of cases. Susan would you say a bit more about the chief Justice William rehnquist and his approach to leading the court . David well, he had, you know, he had been on the court for a lot of years b
As comparison to whats happening now and also some of the lessons that were learned. Lets start with the court itself in 2000. The Rehnquist Court. Nine members of the court and seven of them have been appointed by republican president s. But how do they align ideologically . David its sort of a 54 conservative court. Rehnquist was a leader. Justice scalia was a prominent figure. It leans right. There were several moderate republicans. John stephens, david souter and Ruth Ginsburg and stephen breyer, four on the left. So it leaned conservative. But it was also an interesting you know, the court the court is never 100 predictable. I found that Justice Kennedy and Justice Oconnor were middle of the road conservatives. And you could not predict them in all sorts of cases. Susan would you say a bit more about the chief Justice William rehnquist and his approach to leading the court . David well, he had, you know, he had been on the court for a lot of years before he became a chief justice.
David savage, it is the 20th andversary of bush v gore here we are in the midst of sorting through another close election. We asked you because youve been covering this Supreme Court since 1986 to come back and look back in time with us at that 2000 election. What we were going through then as comparison to whats happening now and also some of the lessons that were learned. Lets start with the court itself in 2000. The Rehnquist Court. Nine members of the court and seven of them have been appointed by republican president s. But how do they align ideologically . David its sort of a 54 conservative court. Rehnquist was a leader. Justice scalia was a prominent figure. It leans right. There were several moderate republicans. John stephens, david souter and Ruth Ginsburg and stephen breyer, four on the left. So it leaned conservative. But it was also an interesting you know, the court the court is never 100 predictable. I found that Justice Kennedy and Justice Oconnor were middle of the ro