Chief Justice Roberts was visiting Victoria University’s Law School to teach a course about the history of the United States Supreme Court, alongside Professor Richard J. Lazarus of Harvard University. On Wednesday night he spoke with Professor Mark Hickford, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Law at Victoria, in front of a capacity crowd including members of the legal fraternity, public sector leaders, law students and alumni.
A video of the discussion is available to view online.
The discussion ranged from the challenges posed by new technology and the politicisation of the judicial process, to the pros and cons of a written constitution, to television personality Judge Judy.
When asked about the key challenges facing the United States Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts pointed to the fast pace of technological advancement.
“We recently had a question about accessing an iPhone, whether the Fourth Amendment [against unreasonable searches and seizures] would apply to that.
“I think the court correctly and unanimously determined that it did, because—ask anyone here—would you rather have law enforcement rummaging through your desk drawer at home or rummaging through your iPhone? […] There’s much more private information on your iPhone than in your desk drawers, so the Fourth Amendment should apply, but that was a challenging question.”
He also noted another challenge: “We’re experiencing a bit of a rocky road. The judicial process has become overly politicised.”
When asked for his views on whether New Zealand should adopt a written constitution, he declined to offer advice, but said that in the case of the United States, “The framers of our constitution hoped they were drafting a document that would withstand the test of time and they used in many instances very broad, capacious terms.
“On the other hand, they can be specific guides to what you’re supposed to look at, and in some cases quite narrow and confining.”
When Professor Hickford mentioned surveys showing the lack of name recognition of Supreme Court Justices among the general public, Chief Justice Roberts joked that “Judge Judy always finishes first”, but said that this didn’t bother him.
“We’re not politicians. It’s not a great disappointment to us when people don’t recognise us.”
Chief Justice Roberts also offered some advice to Victoria students about to embark on a legal career: “If you want to have a successful career as a lawyer, try to keep in mind why you went to law school.”
Law school, and law as a profession, can lead in many different directions, “and I would advise current students or recent students to keep thinking about why they wanted to be a lawyer in the first place.”
“It’s easier to be a success if you’re enjoying what you’re doing, it’s very hard to be a success if you’re not,” he said.