绿巨人视频

On May 3 at the American Church of Paris, Justice Stephen Breyer began his talk on his latest book, The Court and the World: American Law and the New Global Realities, by comparing himself to Fabrice del Dongo, the hero of Stendhal鈥檚 La Chartreuse de Parme. Much like Fabrice, who, in the midst of the battle of Waterloo, understands that something important is happening, although he isn鈥檛 quite sure what it is, Justice Breyer uses his book to clarify the transitions taking place in the US Supreme Court and in the world. 鈥淥ver my 21 years in the Supreme Court, there have been real changes鈥�I鈥檓 just trying to give you a little picture, a little tour of the horizon, as to how things have changed in my small, narrow institution, and why it鈥檚 important that we pay attention and try to do something. It鈥檚 not hopeless, but it isn鈥檛 a sure thing either.鈥�

One crucial shift has been in the nature of the cases he encounters. At the start of his career, only a handful involved foreign law, while that number has now leapt to almost a fifth of the docket. By highlighting specific court decisions, he demonstrates how many cases echo beyond American borders: a Cornell student from Thailand who sells English textbooks imported from Bangkok affects international commerce and copyright law, while a South African man鈥檚 suit against his apartheid torturers calls into question a country鈥檚 autonomy, as well as international interference. In his introduction, Professor Stephen Sawyer explains: 鈥淚n his book, he [Justice Breyer] insists that the most pressing questions of our time depend, at least in part, on our ability to expand American law out of the domestic context and into the world.鈥�

Such developments also prove that issues such as technology, security, and the environment, do not fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of any single nation. 鈥淗ow do we create rules where, if other countries adopt similar rules, it鈥檒l all work out all right? How are we going to solve international problems of environment, of commerce, of health? I mean, the environment isn鈥檛 going to stop at our border or at Europe鈥檚.鈥� While there may not be universal solutions to these and related questions, he asks us to recall those societies where seeking resolution through channels outside of the law inevitably led to destruction and instability. 鈥淭he rule of law is not the only thing we need; it isn鈥檛 even guaranteed to work. But it鈥檚 the respect that all of us, in all of our countries, have for it that helps us constructively move forward, and I think our better natures are on the side of trying to use that law, together, for better purposes.鈥�