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Normita and Bob with Justice Stephen Breyer

Justice Breyer asks Bob about power grid in Hawaii

Friday, April 10, 2009 was a very exciting day in the life of the Fenns of San Ramon!

By Bob Fenn, University of California-Berkeley, College of Engineering, Class of 1963

Member, Dean's Society

Normita and I went to the International House at the UC Berkeley campus to meet with and talk with Justice Stephen Breyer of the US Supreme Court!!!  This was a private reception for the Justice jointly hosted by the Dean of the School of Engineering (Dr. S. Shankar Sastry) and Richard Blum of the Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies, and Chair of the UC Board of Regents.

The excitement really built up for us when Justice Breyer walked in the room and, guess who was closest to the door?  It was Normita!  She welcomed and greeted the Justice with the excitement of someone who died and went to heaven, with cameras clicking away!  Normita and I had the opportunity to shake his hand, converse with him briefly, and had our pictures taken with him.  Pretty heady stuff for a couple of folks from the suburbs.

The Justice seems to be a very engaging person; when I spoke to him, he wanted to know of my background (did I start a company, was I a professor?) and when I told him what I had done at Hawaiian Electric Co., he wanted to know how we generated power in Hawaii.  The new Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was in attendance (he replaced the director who was appointed to a cabinet post in the Obama administration).  Normita was excited to meet him since she had worked at the lab for some time.  Also, Robert Reich, the Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration was in attendance.  Most of the people there were the heavy hitters, people who have donated to major projects on campus, faculty, and alumni.  I have never figured out how we get invited to these events (an upcoming event will have former Vice Pres. Al Gore as guest).

After the reception, we moved to the main auditorium where the Justice gave a brief talk on "International Law".  The main focus of his remarks was on the necessity for a "rule of law" and an "independent judiciary" in order for economic development to take place.  This is because people will not feel comfortable entering into contracts if there is no mechanism to adjudicate dispute that may arise, therefore, stifling risk-taking to a great extent.  He cited many examples of how this concept has worked right here in the US, and how it takes time for the "rule of law" to take effect, noting that the Supreme Court ruled against school segregation in 1954, but still existed until President Eisenhower sent the troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.  Another interesting example was a Court decision in 1830 or so concerning the Cherokee Indians in Georgia, when the Court ruled that the Indians had a right to stay in northern Georgia, but President Jackson disagreed and sent the army in to chase the Indians to Oklahoma, where he said they still are today.  He spoke of meeting with jurists in Russia, and how the independent judiciary is somewhat an anachronism to them.  They have what they call "telephone justice", where a politician will call them and tell them how to decide a case.  He was asked what he would do if Senator Kennedy or the President called him on a case, his reply, "they would not call me!".  There was applause and laughter from the audience.   All in all, a very interesting talk.

After the talk, there were some questions from the audience.  One concerning the internet and copyright protection, which the Justice declined to answer since he feels that this is a question the Court will be addressing sometime soon.  It was interesting to me when he said that all of the deliberations of the Court are very civil, never a raised voice, never a bad word about someone's opinion.  He said there are many "rules" around the deliberations, the one he cited that sticks in my mind is that "nobody speaks twice until everybody has spoken once," a rule we may all consider when we are deliberating an issue.

This was a very enjoyable and enlightening experience for me and Normita, something to remember for a long time.  Such an honor to meet an impressive, down-to-earth man who plays a major role in the many aspects of our lives.

P.S.  It will not be a Cal Berkeley event without the protesters, this time it was Women for Peace.

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Brief bio on Justice Breyer:

Since 1994, Stephen Breyer has served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.  Appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in August 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court. 

Born and raised in San Francisco, Justice Breyer graduated from Lowell High School.  After graduating from Lowell, Breyer went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Stanford University, a Bachelor of Arts from Magdalen College at the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Harvard Law School.