Kennedy: America leads the world in rule of law

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is often called upon to lecture overseas about the American judiciary. But the learning goes both ways.

For example, in China, students clamoring to get into the University of Beijing's graduate law school are asked what inspired them to be lawyers. Many reply that American movies did the trick.

When Kennedy heard that, he said he thought of films such as "12 Angry Men," "Witness for the Prosecution" and "To Kill a Mockingbird," all movies that depict the justice system dramatically. He was surprised to hear the inspiration was, in fact, the comedy "Legally Blonde."

Whether it's Reese Witherspoon or Thurgood Marshall, however, Kennedy assured an audience of Nevada lawyers and judges gathered for a day of seminars at the M Resort Tuesday that the world looks to America for guidance on the rule of law. "I assure you that our practice, our ability to build and to generate is the envy of the rest of the world," Kennedy said.

The justice many regard as the most influential man in Washington, D.C., right now - he's a pivotal swing vote on a variety of cases - also visited students at the Boyd Law School at UNLV. There, he told them a key part of legal education is the inculcation into a culture of legal thinking and language that binds attorneys together no matter their background. That learning, he said, is something members of the bar must transmit to the rest of society.

"You don't take a DNA test to see if you believe in freedom; it's taught," he said. "And teaching is a dynamic act."

Kennedy served as a law school professor prior to being appointed an appellate judge and, later, a justice of the Supreme Court. His confirmation seems impossible by modern standards: He was appointed by a conservative president (Ronald Reagan), told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had no unitary theory of interpreting the Constitution and gained a unanimous vote in the Senate.

"He is the quintessential justice, deciding each case on its merits as they are presented to the court," said James Hardesty, a Nevada Supreme Court justice and former Kennedy student. Hardesty introduced his former teacher and mentor on Tuesday. The speech commemorated Law Day, an annual observation that aims to educate the public about the work of lawyers and the Judiciary.)

On a court sharply divided between four liberal and four conservative justices, Kennedy's relative moderation is sometimes mistaken for squishiness. But the justice answered that criticism by quoting advice he'd given to judges in countries with still-developing judicial systems: "Cautious decision-making is not indecisiveness. It's fidelity to your oath," he said.

And while Kennedy went out of his way to say that judges should eschew political clout or influence, that language of the law - a rational, logical and reasonable way of looking at everyday facts and events - is vital to society and its politics. "The verdict on freedom is still out in over half the world," he said. "They're [other nations] looking to us."

But when they do, Kennedy added, they're often horrified at the political dialogue they witness, a dialogue that can be improved by members of the bar setting an example of resolving conflicts intelligently, cautiously and honestly. "Half-truths soon transform to whole lies," he said. (Sadly, that's probably a positive slogan in more than a few political consultancies.)  

Kennedy encouraged the lawyers and judges to set a better example, mindful that their education and unique shared language gives them a greater obligation to the country and its founding documents. "We are the trustees of democracy," he said.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.