The Brown & White

Jeffrey Toobin, journalist and analyst for CNN, discussed the public and private sides of the U. S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in Packard Laboratory.

The lecture, which was sponsored by the Friends of the Lehigh Libraries, focused on the Obama administration and past administrations' involvement and experiences with the Supreme Court.

Toobin has gained fame for his coverage of national events, such as the Elian Gonzalez custody battle, the sexual harassment of Paula Jones and Timothy McVeigh's bombing in Oklahoma City.

In his lecture, Toobin discussed how little the American public actually knows about the Supreme Court and its role in the federal government.

"Most people have no idea who the justices are," Toobin said. "The justices are both public figures and private figures."

Toobin discussed the Supreme Court's history and some of its most notable justices, describing how rulings today have resulted from past actions.

"The late 60s was the last time the Supreme Court was a unified system, with seven liberals," Toobin said.

Currently, the Supreme Court is evenly divided, with four conservative justices, four liberal justices and one more moderate justice, he said.

"This is the most polarized Court in my lifetime," Toobin said.

Despite that fact, Toobin said the next few years could be a big turning point for the Supreme Court.

Three of the four liberal justices are about to retire, Toobin said.

Throughout American history, the Supreme Court has had a history of non-judges, Toobin said.

He said he believes President Obama will return to this tradition, possibly showing a tendency to appoint more politicians to the Supreme Court.

Toobin said Obama could affect the Court greatly.

"If Barack Obama serves two terms, we could really see the Court change drastically," Toobin said.

Toobin is currently writing a story for the New Yorker on the Obama administration's Supreme Court nominations, he said.

Toobin recently published his book "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court," which not only explores the U.S. federal justice system, but provides anecdotes, conflicts and descriptions of the current Supreme Court justices.

Toobin discussed the last three decades of the Supreme Court, punctuating them with their respective presidents.

"Things began to change in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan came to the White House," he said.

Toobin said John Roberts and Samuel Alito were two of many brilliant young lawyers who wanted to work for Reagan's administration.

Reagan appointed the first woman Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor, Toobin said.

Reagan also nominated Robert Bork for the Supreme Court, but the Democrats had taken over Congress by that time, he said.

"Bork was brilliant, prolific, honorable and very, very conservative," Toobin said.

Vice President Joe Biden headed the justice confirmation hearings when Bork lost 58-42 in the Senate.

Toobin said Justice Clarence Thomas never says a word during oral arguments, but continually passes notes to Justice Stephen Breyer and jokes with him.

Regardless of his silence, Toobin said Thomas is a popular character on the Supreme Court.

Toobin also discussed the Court's liberal transition in the 1990s under George H.W. Bush.

"Why did the Court become liberal during the Bush administration? O'Connor moved to the left," Toobin said.

Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, appointed by Reagan, didn't like the wars and didn't approve of Guantanamo Bay.

However, the Terri Schiavo case alienated her from the Court, Toobin said, because she was supporting her husband John, suffering from Alzheimer's at the time.

Eventually, O'Connor tendered her resignation to spend more time with her husband.

She waited a year between the announcement of her retirement and her actual departure, Toobin said.

During that time Rehnquist passed away and Roberts, Alito and Harriet Miers were confirmed.

One of the more surprising and light-hearted aspects of the Supreme Court is the unlikely but close friendship of Justice Antonin Scalia, conservative, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, liberal, Toobin said.

"Both love opera and Ginsberg loves to laugh and Scalia is very funny," Toobin said.

Andrew Walters, '09, said he enjoyed the way Toobin built up the background of the Supreme Court in his lecture.

"I will definitely look into his writings," Walters said.

Emma Melendez, '12, found Toobin's theories of Obama's appointments and his estimations of Obama interesting.

"I really firmly enjoyed the lecture," Melendez said. "And I loved 'The Nine,' and highly recommend it," Melendez said.

Jason Kramer, '10, also attended the lecture.

"The history of the Supreme Court was particularly interesting," Kramer said.