Tufts University to host Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (March 29, 2018)—Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University will host Stephen G. Breyer, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Wednesday, April 4 at 6 p.m. in Aidekman Arts Center's Cohen Auditorium on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus.

Justice Breyer will discuss the law, interpreting the constitution and the current state of America's civic institutions.

The event is part of the Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series, which recently featured former Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and the Boston Globe Spotlight Team. Tisch College Dean Alan D. Solomont, a former United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, will moderate the discussion with Justice Breyer.

This event is free and open to the Tufts community, but a ticket is required. Information about ticketing is available here. The event will also be live streamed at tischcollege.tufts.edu.

The event is open to members of the news media, but they must register in advance by contacting Robin Smyton via email at robin.smyton@tufts.edu or by phone at 617-627-5392.

Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Stephen Breyer has served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1994. Before joining the nation's highest court, Justice Breyer worked as a Supreme Court law clerk for Justice Arthur Goldberg, a Justice Department lawyer in the antitrust division, an assistant Watergate special prosecutor, a professor at Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government, chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Justice Breyer is the author of "Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution," which espouses a judicial philosophy centered on considering the purpose of the law, and the consequences of specific rulings, in interpreting legal provisions. His second book, "Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View," further expands on this approach.  In 2015 he published "The Court and the World: American Law and the New Global Realities," an exploration of how international law and global affairs impact cases in the United States.

Justice Breyer will be the second Supreme Court Justice to speak at Tufts University in recent years. In 2013, the late Antonin Scalia—Justice Breyer's frequent sparring partner on the Court—delivered the 17th Richard E. Snyder President's Lecture.

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life focuses on preparing students to tackle the most pressing challenges to our communities and our democracy. It conducts some of the nation's leading research on the civic and political engagement of young people, and is a leader in the emerging field of civic studies.

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About Tufts University

Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university's schools is widely encouraged.