Highlights from Justice Stephen Breyer’s Visit to Campus
On February 1, the Stetson Law community gave a warm welcome to Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who visited campus to share insights about the legal profession with College of Law students.
The Sunday evening event, which filled the Great Hall with hundreds of students, faculty and staff members, was one of several events commemorating Stetson Law’s 125th anniversary. It comprised an hour of insight, reflection, advice, and, often, humor as the retired justice conversed with Stetson Law Dean D. Benjamin Barros. The two also discussed Breyer’s recent book, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism.
Offering students an inside look at how the U.S. Supreme Court works day to day, the types of cases the Court hears, and how justices conduct conversations on divisive issues, Breyer stressed civility, respect, and listening to those with whom one disagrees.
“The thing that I found works the best: Listen to what the people say and where they’re coming from,” Breyer said. “Listen. And then you build on what they say.”
The Stetson Connections
Breyer was introduced by 1986 Stetson Law Alumnus David Bronstein, who met Breyer due to his friendship with Breyer’s son Michael.
Bronstein joked that he met the elder Breyer because he “was a C student.” He had meant to ask his friend how people get to the Supreme Court but worded his question in a way that made it seem like he was asking to visit – so the younger Breyer called his father and arranged one.
“Because I didn’t know how to properly ask a question, I got invited to the Supreme Court,” joked Bronstein, who is a founding partner with Bronstein & Carmon, a prominent insurance defense firm in South Florida.
Bronstein also pointed out that former Dean Bruce Jacob, a 1959 alumnus and a transformative figure in Stetson Law history, was a special guest that evening. Jacob is known for arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark 1963 case Gideon v. Wainwright.
“It’s such a delight for me to see him here today,” he said of Jacob, who was dean when Bronstein attended Stetson Law.
Thoughts on the Legal Profession & Civic Engagement
Breyer, who retired from the Court in 2022, is a graduate of Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard Law School. He has taught law at Harvard Law School and at the Kennedy School of Government for years. He worked as a Supreme Court law clerk for Justice Arthur Goldberg, served as a Justice Department lawyer in the Antitrust Division, was an Assistant Special Prosecutor during Watergate, and served as Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
He was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit by President Carter in 1980 and became Chief Judge a decade later. President Bill Clinton appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1994. He has authored books and articles on a broad range of legal topics.
As the conversation drew to a close, Breyer urged the students in attendance to remain active participants in democracy – and reflected on the unique and fundamental role the law and legal professionals play in promoting a just society in the U.S.
“Law is an institution that in general should help people live together peacefully,” Breyer said. “A rule of law is what we depend upon to keep those 340 million people together.”
Post date: Feb. 6
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
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