00:29:29One of the
00:54:31because I knew how to swim so why had I panicked and I just remember you know my
00:54:38parents really talking to me about it and me feeling like never again when I'm
00:54:44in the deep end of any situation will this happen to me I will swim because
00:54:52you know how to do it because I knew how to do it it was just the fear of the
00:54:58moment exactly that you felt overwhelmed exactly you had the skill set and I think
00:55:03about that incident a lot because there are a lot of overwhelming things that
00:55:09have happened to me since but you know I've just had this very strong
00:55:14determination to survive what role if any should empathy play in a judge's
00:55:22decision-making well it depends on what you mean by empathy you know I think
00:55:27people have lots of different viewpoints as to what empathy means
00:55:33certainly judges are responsible for hearing the arguments of both sides trying
00:55:42to understand the positions that the different litigants are putting before
00:55:46them looking at the law and making a determination as to what the law requires
00:55:53I think there's a degree of that that requires a judge to have an understanding
00:55:59of the people and the circumstances that are being presented one of my favorite
00:56:05quotes is from Oliver Wendell Holmes who said that the life of the law is not
00:56:10logic it is experience and it's the idea that judges who've experienced a lot of
00:56:18things in their lives interacted with lots of people done a lot of different jobs at
00:56:25different levels have a very good sense of whose argument makes the most sense in a
00:56:33particular set of circumstances it's you it's your experience that helps you to
00:56:38fairly evaluate the circumstances in a lot of cases in one dissent you wrote with let
00:56:47them eat cake obliviousness today the majority pulls the ripcord and announces
00:56:52colorblindness for all in a more recent dissent you wrote with deep disillusionment
00:56:58and I'm not asking you about a particular case but I am curious if you feel that
00:57:03some rulings pose an existential threat to the rule of law well I wrote that in one
00:57:10in my opinion so I guess the answer is yes you know I think that we have different
00:57:18kinds of cases that have different implications and sometimes you know the
00:57:26court will consider issues that actually relate to the lives of almost everyone in
00:57:35the country sometimes we have cases that are very narrow that they really only affect a small
00:57:41number of people and sometimes we have cases that have those kinds of implications and you know are
00:57:50there cases in which there are issues that have that kind of significance absolutely most
00:57:57people really don't know the inner workings of the Supreme Court would you say that there are any off the top of your head misconception that there are any
00:58:05misconceptions about supreme court justice misconceptions I mean you know I don't really
00:58:12know what most people think of the Supreme Court and justices in general I think the
00:58:18work that we do as I said is very important it's very significant I encourage people to come to the court I
00:58:25encourage people to see an argument when you're in DC you can come and and and understand how the court
00:58:33operates I don't really know whether there are misconceptions that people have yeah
00:58:40the heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight but they while their
00:58:47companions slept were toiling upward in the night yes that passage has been hung in every office you've worked in why is it so significant to you
00:58:56you because it's about the work it's about the work in other words I think that from a very early age I had the sense that I could control my circumstances and perhaps even my destiny by putting in the work and so it became my brand as a student as a lawyer as a judge
00:59:26to be the first one to be the first one to be the first one to be the first one in the office and the last one to go home to put in the hours and the effort that was necessary for me to be excellent at whatever it is that I was doing the poem that you read I learned about in high school
00:59:42and it's the Saturday the ladder of St Augustine by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and I just loved it the idea that while some people were sleeping there were other people who were working and that was me
00:59:59let's go back to your freshman year of college at Harvard it's right before your 18th birthday you share this story in the book you also shared it at your confirmation hearing that you're feeling down lacking a little confidence can I do the work that's required here at Harvard and a black woman who you hadn't seen before
01:00:22and haven't seen since comes passes you by looks at you and simply says persevere yes in the book you said it's one word but it was everything everything as we sit here today finally is there one word that you would give the audience perhaps for somebody who is feeling doubtful skeptical unsure uncertain oh my goodness
01:00:48I don't know that I would have a particular word that story has obviously stuck with me because it felt like it felt like being given a lifeline
01:01:05you know I was in this very strange new environment as many freshmen who go off to college you feel like you're a fish out of water you're not familiar with this
01:01:18set of circumstances and it was like you know a stranger giving me the key to survival on campus a black woman like I said who I didn't know who just whispered that to me as we passed each other so I would tell them everyone
01:01:39that that kind of encouragement is something that we should all be giving one another in this very challenging time we need to be there for one another supporting each other uplifting each other you know I don't know whether that woman saw the look on my face or what not but she felt compelled to reach out to me and so I would just encourage you all to do this
01:02:09do that for even strangers that you meet who may need a word from you right now
01:02:16Justice Jackson we thank you so much for the time
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