Transcripts For CSPAN2 Neil Gorsuch A Republic If You Can Ke

Transcripts For CSPAN2 Neil Gorsuch A Republic If You Can Keep It 20240713

Good evening everyone, i have the honor of the Ronald Reagan president ial foundation thank you all for coming this evening in honor of men and women in uniform to protect our freedoms around the world , please stand and join me for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america. And to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you please be seated. Before we get started i would like to take a moment to recognize special guest we have with us this evening with the board of trustees pete wilson and his terrific wife gail. [applause] from North Carolina then, thank you for coming. [applause] former congressman and retired. [applause] so now on to tonights program, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to invite chairman of the board of trustees of the Reagan Foundation to our stage. [applause] good evening and welcome to the Reagan Library. Thank you for joining us but we know will be a fascinating conversation. We are honored to have as her special guest this morning Justice Gorsuch. Have to go through Senate Hearings to the Supreme Court you never have to answer questions again that you dont want to. [laughter] instead you get to ask the questions. Justice we appreciate you making an exception for this interview. [laughter] i promise i will do my best to make it a better experience than the judiciary committee. Thats a low bar, i know. [applause] if you see a copy of his book you will know he had two collaborators, his former clerks familiar pleased to have david in the audience with us tonight. Where are you . And we are honored david is joined by his grandmother who is very special to us, vera who has been a docent for more than 20 years. I was a should never underestimate the power and influence of our docent they can bring a Supreme Court justice to the Reagan Library. [laughter] they are not his only link to Ronald Reagan in a 23 and 1994 Justice Gorsuch served as a clerk to Justice Kennedy the third and final appointment to the high court by Ronald Reagan. Then Justice Gorsuch is the first clerk to serve alongside his former boss as a fellow Supreme Court justice. David i hope you are taking notes. [laughter] for this lineage to the Supreme Court reflects the reagan legac legacy. It is no secret were president reagan wanted that legacy to be. Americas courts he said, should interpret the law not make it. The role of the Supreme Court in his view was, make sure the principles of law are based on the constitution. Justice gorsuch new book is practically a users manual with a faithful interpretation of the constitution. Its also a wakeup call if we steer too far from the constitutional principles. The title is a republic, if you can keep it. That phrase is how Benjamin Franklin answer questions a type of government they created at the constitutional convention. His response was trying to convey just how fragile the constitutional liberties are and how diligent the citizens must be to preserve them. But freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. During tonights conversation we learn what Americas Court and citizens can do to preserve our constitutional freedoms for the next generation. Ladies and gentlemen please join me to welcome to the Reagan Library Justice Gorsuch. [applause] i hope i do all right. [applause] we are honored and delighted to have you here of the day of publication of your book. I am so happy to be west of the mississippi. [laughter] thank you for having me something ive been working on looking forward to it has been a real treat. Your book opens with an interesting series of events on the occasion of your announcement of the nomination of Supreme Court and in many ways it reminds me of the screenplay of an action novel. Can you share that . To say that it was unexpected doesnt begin to capture me and my family and i have a few stories to tell so not only do we have to sneak out of our hometown and that we had to sneak into the white house. And took us into the kitchen you probably know this better but the scars from the war of 1812 and those fire marks where they have been burned and then the president was gracious enough to use the lincoln bedroom as an office for the day. Wow. I sat writing my remarks for that evening at a desk where the gettysburg address set. The president gave my wife, who was an immigrant from englan england, use of the queens bedroom across the hall. She was allowed one phone call. [laughter] and it had to be somebody back in england. So she called her dad. She said dad. You wont believe it it is going to be neil. And it is about to happen. He said he said oh honey, it was an evening announcement he said i have been watching your Television Programs over here. And there is another fellow, a dear friend of mine, who they caught on tape driving toward washington. So it will not be neil. [laughter] and she said dad, im in the queens bedroom. I think its going to be neil. [laughter] and he said but honey, the other guy could be down the hall. [laughter] so that is a bit of a feel of what it was like in the leaving your home in colorado was also a covert operation. It was and i tell that story in the book. But it was a big change for me and just the loss of anonymity. I was a private citizen peacefully and happily in colorado now all of a sudden everywhere i would be recognized. Everyone who comes up to me has something nice to say. [applause] i love her country. Love ever courts and a lover constitution. Then if i look particularly forlorn the may be a look to the books to tell me a joke. [laughter] but one moment that really captured it for me was i was taking planes back and forth. I didnt bring enough clothing a had a buddy have to go out and buy me some shirts. So i am feeling sorry for mysel myself, for no good reason. Im the luckiest guy i know. But we are in the plane im sitting next to a little girl shes five or six years old. She didnt know or care who i was what she was scared and wanted to hold somebodys hand and asked me i hold your hand . I said of course. It reminded me of my girls at that age. Then the flight smoothed out and she said would you like to draw . [laughter] and we spent the next two and half hours drawing and coloring. Those were my favorite two and a half hours of the entire process. [laughter] but the sweet part was afterwards after that happy moment of anonymity her mother had been behind us, i didnt know that. She had recognized me. She made sure that a thank you note was sent to my office two weeks later. It was drawn by the little girl. To stick figures in front of an airplane saying thank you for the fun. To me that is what america is about. And that is what i got to see when i lost my anonymity when god take something away, he gives you something in return. So i am very privilege. [applause] you did a previous book on another subject, but can you tell us what inspired you to write this book and the selection of the franklin quote as a title . To the confirmation process i wanted to Say Something about america and the constitution and the confirmation process changed a little bit. Back when president reagan nominated Justice Scalia to the court, my predecessor, the great man smoked a pipe during his hearing. [laughter] before the senate. I dont think we will see that again and byron white his hearing lasted 15 minutes. Thats how long my lasted the tenth Circuit Court of appeals the first time. The second time was a little different. And during that process there are some basic things about our country that we need some basic reminders about the wonder of our constitution and how blessed we are to live under it and how all of us have a role to play in our republic. Is not supposed to be run by a small group. It is we the people. The first three words of the constitution. And i became concerned during the process that some people think that judges are just like politicians that we were capes instead of robes. When we rule the certain way we must like or dislike that person we rule against. And that was to my experience as a lawyer and as a judge the lawyers and judges that i have admired know that the law is not politics and the judges are not supposed to be politicians. And it is a great part one privilege to do nothing more than uphold it and pass it down to the next generation. Thats what i wanted to write about because thats my experience. And i want to offer folks a peek into my life of how a judge thinks you can see for yourself how different it is than a politician. Politicians are elected to do your will judges are not elected so they are to impose judgment and not will number 78 for the federalist papers. So i wanted to talk about that. [applause] so when i dug into it furthe further, i came to learn that 30 percent of americans can name the three branches of government. Another third can name one. And 10 percent think judge judy is on the Supreme Court. I respect judge judy alike judge judy, but she is not one of my colleagues. [laughter] so i wanted to talk about these things before we go another step further like did this with my wonderful law clerk and david is here janie is not by but let me brag on them for ten sent on ten seconds. This man comes from a family of mexican immigrants and holocaust survivors. He saved up his pennies attending cal poly as an undergrad to achieve his dream of attending Harvard Law School. Which he did and graduated first in his class. [applause] janie is every bit as special. Her family escaped communis communism, czechoslovakia she came here managed to go to harvard got degrees in statistics and physics and then racked her way through Harvard Law School just like david and clerked for both me and justice so the mayor. Soto my your those are the people for whom i write this book and i get to work with and give me hope for the future . The judges role in the constitution and they are very simple. If you do these two things we will get along just fine this year. I dont care how you come dressed to work for the hours i would like to see you from time to time. But just to rules. First, please, dont make anything up. Just follow the law as faithfully as you can. That is the judges job so help me with that. Thats hard enough figuring out what the law is a what the words on the page mean in the original meaning what it was and to apply it to the circumstance. Rule number two, when people start yelling asking you and begging you to make stuff up and tell you that you are a terrible person if you dont make stuff up or they may not invite you to their cocktail parties, just refer back to rule number one. [laughter] [applause] thank you. Getting into your book, one of the major themes is the framers vision of separated powers and the dangers to blur those lines of separation. Can you talk about why that is so important . We all know First Amendment rights, Fourth Amendment rights, and the bill of rights and how they contribute to liberty but i wonder if we dont appreciate enough the separation of powers and how important it is to our liberty. Many countries have wonderful bills of rights north korea is my favorite. [laughter] it promises all the rights you can find in our bill of rights, every one and more, free education, healthcare, and my favorite, the right to relaxation. I dont know how thats working out for the Political Prisoners in north korea, but the point is and they knew this when they wrote the constitution that those are just promises. He didnt even think we got the bill of rights if we got the constitution and separation of powers right. And the key to your liberty is keeping power separated i am one ninth of one third of the federal government which is one half of the government in the country. Divide power. What happens when you ignore the separation of powers and sometimes we have forgotten that does sound academic and wonky and it did when i learned high school civics, but as a judge, i have been a judge for a while now, especially with the day in and day out cases in the tenth circuit i see what happens when you blur the lines with the separation of powers in peoples lives so what happens when the legislative power is transferred to the executive branch . Is supposed to be a public process of congress and responsive to different electorates at different times. And then to make minorities the fulcrum of the legislative process and then special power to protect themselves thats how we thought minority rights would be protected most of all. So what happens when you take that process to put in the hands of the executive branch . So madison had a mind if you could take it through the difficult process lets put all the power in one persons hands. The president. They decided against that by committee so what happens when you take out 435 elected representatives and put one person in its paid one in their place . I dont want to exaggerate but what happens when that power is delegated . Small business in colorado momandpop type operations inhome nursing care, its a good size business and then to be accused of the federal government of medicare fraud. Thats the end of your business and then you are find 800,000 then many years later they complied with all of the rules in place at the time. The agency was promulgating so many new rules and laws even the agency could not keep up. So i asked my law clerks how many of these criminal regulations are out there on the books written by federal executive agencies . Maybe not even responsive to the president at all . They said academic stopped counting many years ago when they got to over 300,000. So what happens when the power to judge is transferred to the executive branch . I have veterans who come before me and immigrants that when i look at the law they win. They deserve to win. But we have a doctrine that says no, independent judges should defer to the interpretation of the law. By the executive bureaucrat. So even though i think the veteran should win in the immigrant should when the Social Security benefit recipient should win, i have to rule the other way. What happens to your right to the independent judge what happens to your right to participate in the lawmaking process . It supposed to be a republic. Speaking of the three branches do you feel the three branches are coequal . I hope so. Have a consistently maintained or over time is one more prominent . Thank you can a a lot more power has evolved to the executive branch than the framers had in mind talking about that legislative power and a lot of the judicial power has moved to the executive branch. Really of the book you introduce important concepts one is original is a man the application of the constitution and contextualism in the interpretation of statutes. Can you give us a summary explanation what these mean and why they are important . Now we are getting wonky. [laughter] but this is important to me. The term original is had not been uttered by any of my professors at law school until Justice Scalia showed up one day to give a lecture and introduced it to me. Is not something i even fully embraced for understood until years later when i became a judge. Its a simple idea the judge should apply the words on the page as originally understood at the time they were adopted. But the truth is the judges, always with the law talk about statutes or contracts felt their role was to apply the words as they were originally meant and understood at the time they were written. Our founders decided on a written constitution they put it down on paper they set down the rights and obligations on paper they did not what but it evil but then to describe the process it is the amendment process directed by we the people not anyone else. So original is honors the constitution they could have done it otherwise like the english practice the unwritten constitution and rejected that and in real cases and in real lives what happens when judges ignore or override the original meaning of the words on the page which they sometimes call a living constitution as a judge i came to see your rights are often taken away but there they are on the page to be found i will give you a couple of examples the sixth amendment you have a right to a jury trial. In criminal cases. In the right to confront your accusers. It doesnt take a scientist to figure out what those words mean. But the Supreme Court of United States over the years has said the right to a jury trial sometimes gives way and a judge instead can try your case. Your rights diminished. Sometimes you dont have a right to confront your accusers. Sometimes a piece of paper written by a Police Officer can be introduced as key evidence against you and enough to send a person away for 20 years or more. Okay. These are the rights that get taken away when the most influential decisions took a whole lot of rights away from a whole class of citizens of the japaneseamerican citizens could be rounded up and detained during the duration of the hostilities during the Second World War without any due process. Without any recognition of equal protection obligation of the constitution constitution on judges out there doing something important and vital to keep the peace and help the war effort the living constitution so then they put things that are in there that are not there in the most infamous example is dred scott the first case with United States up ryan one Supreme Court departed from the original mean

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