>> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY! WE ARE BACK WITH THE AUTHOR OF
"LOVELY ONE," SUPREME COURT JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON.
SOMETIMES JUSTICES, AS YOU SENT, WILL READ DISTANCE FROM THE
BENCH. NOT ALWAYS.
WHEN DOES THAT HAPPEN? IS THAT WHEN YOU REALLY WANT TO
SEND A MESSAGE, WHETHER IT'S YOU OR SOMEONE OF THE OTHER THREE
LIBERAL JUSTICES WERE SOME OF THE MORE CONSERVATIVE JUSTICES,
BOTH SIDES WILL READ DISTANCE FROM THE BENCH.
IS THAT WHEN YOU REALLY WANT TO SEND A MESSAGE THAT RESPECTFULLY
THE MAJORITY IS BONKERS? WHY DO YOU READ DISSENTS
SOMETIMES AND NOT OTHERS? >> Justice Brown Jackson: IT'S
A TRADITION ON THE COURT TO ALLOW FOR JUSTICES WHO FEEL
STRONGLY IN A PARTICULAR CASE TO READ FROM THEIR DISSENT.
I THINK IT DOES UNDERSCORE YOUR PARTICULAR PASSION FOR AN ISSUE
OR A CASE. >> Stephen: HOW MANY TIMES
HAVE YOU DONE THAT SO FAR? >> Justice Brown Jackson: I'VE
DONE IT TWICE. >> Stephen: CAN I ASK WHICH
CASES. >> Justice Brown Jackson: I
DON'T KNOW I REMEMBER. MAYBE THEY WEREN'T SO
PASSIONATE. [LAUGHS]
>> Stephen: YOU DID BETTER THAN THIS ON THE BAR EXAM, I
HOPE. >> Justice Brown Jackson: I
DID. >> Stephen: ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS OF BEING A NEW JUSTICE IS, YOU'VE
GOT TO DO THINGS OTHER PEOPLE DON'T HAVE TO DO.
IS THERE SOME SORT OF HAZING PROCESS?
>> Justice Brown Jackson: WELL, I WAS ASSIGNED TO BE THE
CHAIR OF THE CAFETERIA COMMI COMMITTEE.
>> Stephen: WHAT? >> Justice Brown Jackson: MAY
BE. >> Stephen: THAT'S WHY --
WHAT'S THE RESPONSIBILITY? >> Justice Brown Jackson: WE
DO SOME VERY IMPORTANT THINGS. WE GOT ELECTRONIC ORDERING IN
THE CAFETERIA. >> Stephen: WOW.
>> Justice Brown Jackson: I ALSO OPENED THE DOOR.
>> Stephen: WHAT? >> Justice Brown Jackson: I
OPEN THE DOOR AT CONFERENCE. >> Stephen: WHAT DOES THAT
MEAN? >> Justice Brown Jackson: IT
MEANS IF WE ARE SITTING IN CONFERENCE AND THE JUSTICES ARE
BY THEMSELVES AND SOMEONE COMES TO THE DOOR, I GET UP AND I
ANSWER IT. >> Stephen: THAT'S THE JOB OF
THE YOUNG PERSON? >> Justice Brown Jackson: THE
JOB OF THE JUNIOR JUSTICE. >> Stephen: I DO HAVE TO SAY
IT'S LOVELY. IT'S STRANGE TO TALK TO A
JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT WHO IS CONSIDERABLY YOUNGER THAN I
AM. I FIND IT UNNERVING THAT I'VE
ACHIEVED NOTHING IN MY LIFE. [LAUGHTER]
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE LIKE ON THE SHOW IS, I'M A BIG FAN OF
POETRY. I KNOW THAT YOU ARE A PARTICULAR
FAN OF THIS POEM RIGHT HERE CALLED "THE LATTER OF
ST. AUGUSTINE." WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
IF YOU WOULD READ A SMALL PORTION OF IT, THAT WOULD BE
LOVELY. >> Justice Brown Jackson: IT'S
A POEM THAT TALKS ABOUT HARD WORK WHICH I TALK ABOUT IN THE
BOOK QUITE A BIT BECAUSE I SORT OF FELT LIKE THIS WAS MY
PROFESSIONAL BRAND THROUGHOUT MY LIFE, WORKING VERY HARD.
AND I KEPT TWO STANCES UP ON BULLETIN BOARD IN A MOST
EVERY JOB I HAD BECAUSE IT WAS O MOTIVATIONAL.
SO THIS IS THE LADDER OF SAINT AUGUSTINE BY HENRY WADSWORTH
LONGFELLOW AND HE SAYS... "WE HAVE NOT WINGS,
WE CANNOT SOAR; BUT WE HAVE FEET TO SCALE
AND CLIMB BY SLOW DEGREES, BY MORE AND MORE,
THE CLOUDY SUMMITS OF OUR TIME. THE HEIGHTS BY GREAT MEN REACHED
AND KEPT WERE NOT ATTAINED BY SUDDEN FLIGHT, BUT THEY,
WHILE THEIR COMPANIONS SLEPT, WERE TOILING UPWARD
IN THE NIGHT." >> Stephen: BEAUTIFUL.
[APPLAUSE] I LOVE THAT.
>> Justice Brown Jackson: THANK YOU.
>> Stephen: I'M GOING TO GIVE THAT EVERYBODY I KNOW.
THANK YOU, JUSTICE. >> Justice Brown Jackson:
THANK YOU SO MUCH. IT WAS WONDERFUL.
>> Stephen: THE BOOK, "LOVELY ONE,"
IS AVAILABLE NOW. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, EVERYBODY.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH A PERFORMANCE BY KAYTRANADA.