straight to his work and filled the stockings, then turned about a jerk, and laying his aside of his nose and giving a nod, up the chem knee rose. >> away they all flew like the down of a thistle. >> but i heard him exclaim as he out of sight, merry christmas to all and to all a good night. [applause] job.od >> ladies and gentlemen, once #.in, next performer is a --lled songwriter >> you'll do is you'll play the

point guard who is the all-star, and i'll play the substitute rarely gets into the game. >> i'm sorry, i'm hearing some talk. okay, our next performer -- getting pretty good, mr. president, pretty good, not so much on the left hand, but the right hand i'm pretty good. >> tom? what are you doing? moneyy.i, i'm just down here reading the teleprompter with the president of the united states. >> okay. i know, but we're in the middle show, and why are you sitting next to the president? >> well, i'm pitching him a film see i understand he's going to have some free time in a couple years. something to want do. i'm hoping that he and i can together.ie >> really? the idea? >> well, bit two hand some bodacious cops, who fight crime

and at nighty, play basketball in the nba. tom, that sound like a really great idea. mr. clutch and the touch. >> well,ly be the first in line to see that film. mr. president,, merrill streep as the team and -- >> okay, tom, while you work on that, let's get back to the music. please welcome the multigrammy winning singer, songwriter and actor, neo.

>> merry christmas. ♪ i'm dreaming tonight of a even more i love, than i normally do. know it's a long .back, i promise you, >> please welcome the secretary of the i there are and president and chairman of and chairman of national park foundation.

>> hello, everyone. thank you for being here and thanks so much to the national and the national park service for hosting this tradition yearay after year. i'd like to offer each of you a welcome to president's park which is managed by the national park service and the of the interior, and of course home to the first so delightede're they're here today. it a great honor to help care of the extraordinary system 401 national parks that commemorate our history, our and our incredibly beautiful landscapes. thousandsroud of the of dedicated federal employees and many, many volunteers who public land, our waters and our wildlife for the benefit of all americans. we are blessed with the spirit of the holidays. faiths and traditions mark this darkest month of the joy of celebrating the

charity, of love, of giving, of friends.d it's a time of year when we are reminded that it's truly better give than to receive. and that our lives ultimately we measured not by what acquire or the positions we we lovet by how much and are loved by others. so for the next few weeks this beautifully decorated tree will stand as a symbol of this shining its light in our nation's capital, and i trust in who visit.of all toit's now my on who are welcome someone whose leadership and example inspire mess and us to be forces for good in our in our nation.d ladies and gentlemen, the 44th president of the united states of america, barak obama.

everybody!ristmas, on outthis party going back and we thought we'd join you. to thank secretary jewel introductionthe but for all that you and everybody who is part of the interior department and the park service do to protect the magnificent outdoors for our children and for future generations. i want to thank jonathan jarvis, winning and everybody at the national park service and the national park foundation for special events each and every holiday season. i want everybody to give it up for our charming christmas host and ritatom hanks

wilson. [cheers and applause] we have so enjoyed the incredible performers, including labelle.nd only patty of finally, thanks to all you who are here and watching at joining us to celebrate this wonderful holiday tradition. back in 1923, school kids here towashington wrote a letter the white house asking if they could put a christmas tree on lawn.uth and more than 90 years and a few later, thevergreens national christmas tree still of hope andymbol holiday spirit. and we still gather as a country, each year, to light it. we still have the school kids this yeartoo, but they've given all the state and territory trees surrounding the

national christmas tree their first digital upgrade. young women from all 50 states usingheir computers, their coding skills, to control the colors and patterns of the on these trees. so thanks to those wonderful incrediblyt is impressive, it's actually one of the few things that tom hanks cannot do. lighting the tree has entered into the 21st wetury, the story that remember this season dates back more than 2,000 years. hope.he story of the birth a singular child into of circumstances, a child that would grow up to live humility and kindness and compassion, and travel with a message of empathy and understanding. who taught us to care for the

poor, and the marginalized, and those who are different from ourselves. and more than two millennia he lived still compels us to do our best to build a more just and tolerant and decent world. familystory dear to my as christians, but its meaning is one embraced by all people as around theountry and world. regardless of how they pray or all.er they pray at and that's to love our neighbors as ourselves. be one another's keepers, to have faith in one another. it's something that's good not just at christmas time but all the time. finally this christmas we count blessings and give thanks to the men and women much our military who helped make those blessings possible. and as we hold our loved ones tight, let's remember the

military families whose loved ones are far from home. heros, they deserve our heart felt gratitude and our support.rted # [cheers and applause] of michelle, ma lee a, sasha, mom in law, and our reindeer, i want to wish all of of you a very, merry christmas and a holiday joy.d with god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause] ♪ jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh. jingle bells, jingle bells, the way, oh what fun

it is to ride in a one horse sleigh. jingle bells, jingle bells, all the way. oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. job, merry christmas. you.roud of thank you, you guys were great. the't you just multitalented star. that was wonderful.

do?hat are does he great job. christmas.merry thank you. give them a big round of applause. merry christmas, everybody. thank you. thanks for your service. you guys. high five. ♪.

>> first lady michelle obama welcomed military families to the white house earlier this month, for the first public viewing of the 2014 white house holiday decorations. up next on c-span we'll show you some of those decorations, followed by remarks from the lady. >> when a mother placed a star on the tree, lost her son in and you see the tears come down her face, they didn't give kleenex.

because you don't know when you come in to volunteer, you have no idea where you're going to be placed, and i think each much us placet in a significant that, i have a grandson who was a marine for four years and two of those years he was in iraq and he was, god bless him, he was shot the second time when he right after fallujah. i see a child placing his father's star on there or i that could have been me. respect these to gold star families.

>> sometimes it's chocolate, .ingerbread >> are you having fun? >> yes. >> excellent, a having fun too. i'm afternoon, everybody,

so pleased to be here. my name is susan. sister.ld star last december i read a newspaper a gold about a mother, star mother who had lost her son in iraq, and she had just the white house. she had worked as a holiday meanseer, and that decorating all the beautiful now.s that you see here what peeked my interest most about what she had been assigned oneo was that she was the that got to decorate the gold star tree, which you have seen downstairs in the entry lobby. story, i vowed to myself at that time, didn't tell iybody else about this, but thought i would love to do that. i would love to be a white house have the and get to same opportunity to honor my brother. my brother was a lance corporal states marine

corps, lance corporal jed to our died in service country on september 21, 1967. in vietnam. two years later, jed was awarded the congressional medal of honor bravery. and i have to tell you, the past this has been an honor and a privilege to have been chosen to do this, and to be here as a holiday volunteer, .ecorator i did indeed get to decorate or help to decorate the gold star tree. and in honor of my brother it a wonderful, wonderful experience. experience beyond description, and i have to say right up to this moment and the afternoon,st always.herish this i know to those of you who have lost a loved one in service to

country, i know the pain that you it and i know that you continue to feel it. we have good days, we have bad days, and we always struggle loss.hat there's one person here today that i'd like to introduce who an inspiration to so many of us. and knows about what i'm talking, this indescribable love that we have for our military, our family members, those that we've lost. certainly with her foundation joining forces, which you're all familiar with, i would like to welcome our first lady, michelle obama. [applause] >> you notice your kids didn't stand up. ( laughter ) know, my kids don't stant up either.

wow, it good to see you guys. you guys are looking really nice. are you going to be able to stay for your parents, do you think? we've got some things for you to get messy with in a second, okay. i know. guys look good, too. ( laughter ) welcome to the white house. our favorite time of year. and we're just very excited to here.ou all you talk amongst yourselves, you and susan, you just do whatever want, you're good. but i want to start by thanking that very warm and authentic introduction. it was really moving to me to story, your path to being here this year, and i want thank you for spending the last few days helping to make this house look so beautiful. you guys outdid yourself this year.

yes. better everyr and year much but more importantly i want to thank you for your and sacrifice as a gold star sister. i'm glad you had that experience. but most of all, i want to thank you as well for being here. we have with us troops, veterans, wounded warriors from across our military here today kick things off. we've got some tremendous military spouses here. for our spouses. [applause] including some of the spouses of commanders and service chiefs who are here today. is good to see you. [applause] and of course we have some lookingabulous good military kids here with us today. give yourselves a round of applause.

[applause] yeah. i like the hair. you. ( laughter ) but i have to tell you that your presence here today is a powerful reminder for all of us, what the season is really all about. so often we get caught up in the the plans forall logistics,he traveling the shopping for making your list, checking it tryings. sometimes we get caught up in all that. but ultimately that's not what this season is about. it's really about serving others, and it's about giving than we receive. and it's about showing those we us. how much they mean to and that's one the reasons why here at the white house the toidays are a chance for us show what our country is grateful for this holiday really all ofat's you. all of you, the military

families who serve our nation proudly and give us all so much. because we know that too often stories of courage and strength often get lost in the shuffle. and there are a lot of people who don't realize what you all through. they don know that military spouses often have to pick up and move their families again and again and again. often at the expense of their own careers. many people don't know that you and grandparents and siblings like susan who have lost those you love most in the world. and of course they don't know yout you kids and all that have to go through. they don know that oftentimes military kids have to star at a new school every couple of years. which means a tough transition them, although they do it so bravely. and they are so smart. to adjust to new classes and new friends, and new

teammates, and that's not always easy, right? but you guys get it done. but a lot of peel don know that. but no matter what you all are going through, this is the thing really keeps me going. you guys always, always step up. ones whof you are the were doing all the volunteering, more so than many average americans. you're the ones who are cooking the meals for your neighbors and carpool.er the you guys are the ones who are organizing food drives and packages.re you guys are the ones who were everywhere, near congregations, school fundraisers, stepping up when friendur families and need you. and as first lady, one of my missions is to make sure that you feel this gratitude. for everything that you do. and that's one of the reasons

biden and i work so hard through our joining forces initiative, because we want to make sure that you guys are supported every single day, and that's why once again we are celebrating our military families with our holiday decorations here at the white house. you've noticed that again in the east room, as got amentioned, we've tree adorned with ceramic star ornaments trimmed in gold, and star familyld members to honor their loved ones. that's how you kick off your experience here at the white house, that's the first tree you see. again we're giving folks a chance to pledge to serve their community, here at house in honor of our veterans and military families, because we want to make sure we're not just honoring the families during the holidays, but we're honoring you every single day of the year. and we get a wonderful response commitments, those

those pledges. and in this year, our official huge house tree, the big tree, have you guys seen the biggest hugest tree? have you seen it? this is the biggest tree we've had. and this tree is in honor of our men and women in uniform. it is beautiful. so bigot a tree that was that we had to take the hinges off the front door and take the off, literally, just to get this tree in. can you imagine that? huge. but the biggest tree ever, it's beautiful because it has patriotic ornaments and ribbons read america the brave, as well as some wonderful cards created by children across the fortry to thank all of you your service to our country. it's beautiful. and in addition to these really wonderful tributes to our someary families, we have of, a few of the special touches to really build upon our holiday

this year, which is a children's winter wonderland. yeah. i wish you could see their faces. ofy're giving me a lot personality here. but in year we've got some new twists, we've got a lot of fun technologist, we're playing with technology this year. for instance in the book saw the bowre you animals, did you see bo and sunny? did you notice that there's a snow scape projection on the east wall? i haven't seen it yet. can wave your hands around, and looks like you're playing in the snow. you haven't seen it. well, i haven't seen it either. so we'll make sure to get that covered. seen the animated versionings of bo and sunny? either.t seen those yet sunny's eyes move, with a motion sensor. i hope it's working.

but it should be fun. a selectionve got of the winners of our 3d printed ornament challenge that are house,ed throughout the so that's something you all can try to find where those original orange amounts are. and we have all the wonderful things that make the holiday season at the white house so special. guess how many trees we have scattered all throughout the white house. >> five. >> 26. that's a lot of trees. we just have twun two -- five here in this room. there are 26 trees all throughout the rooms and hallways. a 420-pound gingerbread house. see thatare going to if you haven't, we're going to go over there soon, in the state of coursem. and there's the amazing smell of pine that just wafts through the house, that's the best part really. that really tells you it's christmas, and we can smell it upstairs, it's really beautiful. so i want to thank all 106

whonteers, like susan, traveled from all across the country to help decorate. withoutn't do this them. they come in, thanksgiving they gave up time with their families. they come when the tree comes on friday and they spend the next in the warehouse picking out ornaments, they come here and they're innerry room and they're of what they do. they're a little possessive at they, i understand and also helped decorate the christmas trees that are in our so we're as well. grateful for their enthusiasm, their creativity. they have, as you will see, they done an outstanding job, the house is just breath taking, proud and grateful. because of their hard work, we're now ready to open the house for the holiday season to the 65,000 people who will come through this house over the next month. 65,000 people. are going to walk in these rooms, where you are, and

all're going to get to see these ornaments. and these visit are going to life longutiful memories for everyone who gets to come by. so again we are grateful to the volunteers. we are especially grateful to all of our service members, our families, we're truly grateful. enjoye you take time to your time here at the white house and see and touch and smell everything that you can. and come back for more if you enough.seen but now we've government a little surprise for you guys. ready to get up and move? you're going to come with me, do someing to decorating. got stuff, i think we may something.ookies or yeah. as, ma'am, do you have question?

(inaudible question) have to make two of whatever she's making because her brother is sick. you can make eight. as many as you want. so you guys are going to follow me. rae?ou guys and i'm going to take your kids, the parents, where are the beautiful these children? are you okay with them coming with me for a moment? ( laughter ) get sow, really don't nervous, because there's really up.ing they can tear there really isn't. so just don't worry, as long as pretty't care if those dresses get a little icing on them. they're going to come with me, to see boyou will get and sunny. yeah. anybody afraid of dogs? so i know ahead of time. okay. well, you just stay away from

them, okay. else who doesn't like dogs? iey're friendly dogs, but understand dog phobia. okay.ook for you, are you guys ready to come with me? all right, let's go, let's do it. buy, you guys. we're going to give you cider cookies, we'll give you something. let's go.

did everybody get to do an ornament? an ornament yet? right here at this table, can you make an ornament.

all right, you guys, happy holidays.

>> house speaker john boehner and other lawmakers participated in the capitol christmas tree lighting ceremony earlier this month. this year's tree is an 88-foot from the chip e with a national forest in minnesota. >> before we get to that moment, i want to welcome members of congress and distinguished guests. neighbors, andl those who are visiting our nation's capitol today. thank you for joining us on this evening.wet i would especially like to acknowledge members of the

minnesota delegation in attendance tonight, including clobechar, -- incredible tree has been beautifully decorated with thousands of hand made ornaments and otherschildren in minnesota communities as a of 10,000the land lakes. speaking of ornaments, each year the u.s. capitol historical society presents a stunning ornament to place upon the tree. ornament features a classic capitol design crafted the marble steps that used to be on the east front of the capitol. at this time i'd like to introduce former member of congress, and president of the capitol historical society,

sarazin. >> steven, thank you very much. mr. speaker, members of me add my thanks to this wonderful event, this which ishristmas tree absolutely beautiful, and to have the privilege as president historical capitol society of adding our annual ornament to the tree. the thousands of ornaments that have been created by the minnesota. so i would like to present to please asknament, you to get it on the tree, it's made from marble, it came from removed fromit was the steps were removed on the the front of the building in 1990. so thank you so much. right, sir. ron. you so much, the u.s.than 40 years

forest service and the architect tothe capitol have partnered bring a christmas tree to the nation'srom one of our national forests. i'd like to specifically thank all of the dedicated forest service staff, both here in washington and in minnesota, mo helped make this event possible. it's quite an under taking and are always so appreciative of your hard work. in particular, we would all like to beverlynk you carroll who will be retiring after 39 years with the forest service and beverly has been a capitol christmas tree tradition for 20 years and we wish you all the best, beverly. a round ofthem all applause. [applause] joining us tonight is the honorable robert bonnie, department ofhe agriculture.

he has a holiday message to this with all of you evening. mr. bonnie? >> it's an honor to be here today to represent the u.s. andrtment of agriculture the u.s. forest service. 50 years ago speaker of the house mccormack began the tradition of the capitol christmas tree to celebrate the share a little holiday spirit the capitol christmas tree, from one ofly hails our national forests is a good reminder to all of us of the ourrtance of conserving forests and natural resources. the tree is also a wonderful can-do of the american spirit. as each year partners and hundreds of volunteers thousands of hours to help transport the tree from one of our national forests to the capitol. this year's tree, a white chippewaomes from the national fores in minnesota. presidentd in 1908 by theodore roosevelt as the first

national forest east of the forest isi river, the at the headwaters of the river, it contains 400,000 acres of wetlands and lakes, and provides links, sandcanada hill cranes and the largest breeding population of bald eagles in the lower 48 the forest has also been home to native americans for 10,000 years, and contains outstanding cultural resources. and that makes today's even more important. the band has played a the forestle with service to bring the tree here. i'm told there are members of leach lake band who are here here when a tree from that for e was last selected. other partners have also journeyted to the long the tree has taken.

partners like these are vital do on thee work we national forest, whether it's conserving and reforring eco providing recreational opportunities to millions of people. so let's celebrate in tree.rship and this merry christmas and happy holidays. mr. bonnie., this tree has been on a tremendous journey, in fact it's than 2,000 miles across the country from minnesota. a mere 12 days ago this white spruce arrived here on the our dedicatedre team of capitol grounds crew went to work decorating it. final tree, the final of 34 trees for george rollins, and george you will be missed as well. didn't the grounds crew do a job?stic to theircial shout out leader, ted, the superintendent

of capitol grounds who had the tough task of selecting just one amazing treesmany found in chippewa national forest. next, ladies and gentlemen, it's my honor to bring up members of delegation to offer their remarks. introducingonor of senator amy clobeshar who became the first woman elected to represent the state of minnesota in the united states senate in 2006. she serves on the senate committee on agriculture, and forestry, which has jurisdiction over forestry she was at the chippewa national forest to of thisthe harvesting magnificent tree. senator? [applause] >> hello, everyone. to see you here.

we're so proud of this tree from the state of minnesota where in the word of our unofficial poet laureate gary son keel lor, a women aree the strong, right? looking.re good and all the trees are above average. 88 feet aboveis average. we're very proud of it and also we have our delegation here, nolan, as you know, you'll hear from him, here.sswoman bachman is conscious man walls and congressman paul son are here. congressman ellison and --eculiar up, mccullum, and thank you here.r boehner for being also notice stenyhoyer is with us today. thank you, we're

very excited to have you light tonight.ree so it is so fitting that our state is providing this tree bemidgey, andin would taken fact, it more than four paul bunyan statues to reach the star on that tree. i was there at the beginning the tree was cut by minnesota's logger of the year who is a really big guy. but hed to do it myself, took over. this tree then traveled some chippewaes from the forest. and i was at some of the events in minnesota, i was astounded by of school kids that would turn out just to see this tree. canwith all the cynicism we have sometimes in washington, it makes you realize that the people of this country and the of this country still care that their tree from their whole one tree in the country, is going to be standing in front of this capitol

building. from the foresters and the conservationists and the loggers to work together every day maintain the hope, beauty and productivity of our forest, this come.as my grandpa was an iron ore miner and when the mine closed down he logger, so i know how hard this life can be. but it wasn't just where this started. it was all the kid that worked on the ornaments, it was the leach lake tribal members, songs and prayers that blessed this opter on its journey. but sharing this not so small piece of minnesota here in our we're lettingal, everyone know about the natural beauty and cultural richness state.n our we're letting everyone know why we need them to come to minnesota and experience it for themselves. i'd like to thank everyone who made this possible. to have aproud minnesota tree in front of the united states capitol. thank you.

[applause] >> thank you so much, senator. and now, ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to introduce al franken who has been serving the people of minnesota since 2009. senator franken? >> thank you. thank you for being here, everyone. have this honor to year's tree from the chippewa in minnesota,t and from the leach lake band of the jibway. do not like tos brag, but our tree is 88 feet tall. for the second largest capitol christmas tree ever. than theot shorter tallest. largest doesn't sound much like a brag, but in of hubert home humphrey and walter mondale,

being second is a brag. 88 feet. how many years it 88-foot tall an tree? neither do i. but i'm sure it took a very long time. what you don't see here are the brought trees that were from minnesota to washington one.along with this huge there are smaller trees, and those trees are scattered throughout offices around the including one in my office. minnesota children ornaments to decorate all these trees, because we are the land of lakes. actually we have 11,842 lakes. but that doesn't have the same

lakes. 10,000 so we're the land of 10,000 the 10,000 around ams that the children from minnesota made. the very popular ornaments that these children dream catcher. you may see one, it's like a circular thing with netting in part ofnd they're ojibwe legend and they are believed to protect you while sleeping by catching all the bad dreams and thoughts letting only positive thoughts come true. now, i think that's a good the holidayr season, don't you all? don't you all? do. you [applause] i knew. we light this tree, let us only be filled with

and with theghts joy and love of the season. clobechar and i lay claim to this tree because as senators we represent the buyer of minnesota. but this tree comes from 28th which isonal district, represented by congressman rick nolan, so i guess he can lay although toas well, a lesser extent. greate we have him, our congressman, rick nolan. [applause] >> well, on behalf of the minnesota delegation, i want to thisme all of you to wonderfully warm, balmy afternoon. evening. believe it or not, it was 830-degree difference, change in threur from the time we awe left

minnesota yesterday and got here today. but what a wonderful tree this is. forestant to thank the womane and thank chair carrie jones, and the leach lake of the chippewa nation. thank you for nurturing this and the wonderful celebration that you created for tree.rvesting of this what's wonderful about this tree things. but with its 10,000 ornaments, tell meting that they you'll be able to see from outer space once it's lit up, speaker boehner. what's really wonderful about it is it's right smack dab here in the middle of the capitol. and there's nothing even about it.artisan i mean, there are no democratic, or independent parts of this tree.

even though you know, there are going out to the left and out the oh the right and between.g in but what's magnificent about it it remind us all that we and oneone nation people, joined together in a common cause, in a common message to the world about the importance of love, peace, liberty, and freedom. a great month or it is for us from minnesota to be able provided this tree at this time. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you so much, nolan.sman now it's my grit privilege to introduce the speaker of the boehner.hn speaker boehner has served the 8th district of

ingress since 1990 and january 2011 he became the 53rd speaker of the house much tonight he carries on the tradition of lighting the u.s. tree.l christmas ladies and gentlemen, the honorable john boehner. [applause] you, steve, and let me thank all of how are here thank you toa big everyone who was involved in making this evening happen, from thearchitects team to forest service, to the people of minnesota and to the thousands who made the decorations. all this, this tree truly embodies the christmas spirit. as our dome is in a season of restoration, we are here to own. one of our it seemed on that first was just a group

much shepherds keeping watch on a quiet night. the angel suddenly appears that announcing that unto you is in this day in the city of david a savior which is christ lord. the shepherds don't just rejoice at this gift, they go and catch of it for themselves. let us now go to bethlehem, they and see what has come to pass. once they get there, they share good tidings with the world. that's what makes christmas so magical. a time to rediscover for ourselves the glory of god's love, to see with fresh eyes the beauty of simple things and kindleons and to redin the hope of peace and good will to all, just as lights on the tree shine together to overcome the darkness. family andf of my the people's house, i wish a of youhristmas to all

and to all a good night. moment,w reached that that you've all been waiting inside.t is to go back to help us light this tree this year, we have a special guest, just up the road in maryland. he and his family are here with a wishp of the make foundation. and they'll be spending christmas in new york, so asked him to come down here and help us kick off this holiday season in our nation's capital. and gentlemen, join me in to aaronwarm welcome urban. [applause] aaron, are you ready? start. six,nine, eight, seven, five, four, three, two, one. [applause]

>> what a magnificent tree, ladies and gentlemen. thank you, everyone, for coming tonight to join speaker boehner, the minnesota congressional delegation, the u.s. forest service, the united states navy ceremonial band, and all of us for this year's lighting of our u.s. capitol

christmas tree. merry christmas, everyone, and ood night.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2014] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption contents and accuracy. visit ncicap.org

>> on the one hand the government has grown to a size that the founding generation never could have imagined and the bill of rights is violetly needed to keep the governments in check, to make sure that they do not violate precious individual rights. at the same time, however, without the governmental

structure that the constitution created, the bill of rights would be like an arm without a body. constitutional provisions protecting individual rights are worse than useless if they are not backed up by a governmental structure to enforce those rights. and that brings me to the third connection between the bill of rights and the city of philadelphia. by the time the first ten amendments were ratified, the national capitol had moved from new york to philadelphia and it was here right across the street that the supreme court heard its first cases. it had met in a very brief session in new york and adopted some internal rules. but after that, the capitol moved to philadelphia, the supreme court met -- moved to philadelphia, the supreme court heard its first cases across the street in the summer of 1791 and it was not long after that in the mid 1790s that the

court began to hear arguments about the provisions of the bill of rights. they were put into operation in that way. >> you can see all of justice samuel ale to's comments tonight on c-span. also speaking at the event former florida governor jeb bush. it starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern.

>> sunday on q&a "washington post" fact checker columnist on his biggest pin oak yos of

2014. >> democrats tend to get a little more upset at them because i think they have bought into the myth of the liberal media and they kind of think that the media is on their side. whereas, republicans, they firmly believe in the myth of the liberal media so they kind of expect that they're going to be, oh, it's the reporter, they're not going to be fair to me. i kind of think -- i hope that over the last four years i've -- enough back and forth treated both parties with equal fervor that people have now come to grudgingly say, ok, you're someone we can do business with. i know that the senate majority pact, which is affiliated with harry reid, they stopped

answering my questions midway through the campaign season. because they felt they were not getting a fair shake from me. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's q&a. >> up next on c-span, journalists who cover the supreme court on how religion affects the high court's decisions from the newsium, his is an hour-and-a-half. >> let's see if this is going. it is going. good. good evening, everyone. welcome to the night conference center at the newseum. we are very pleased to see everyone out tonight. either you don't like football or you are very interested in this

opic, one of the two. i am glad you are here. i only heard about this myself last minute area that is how far out of it i am, but there are probably some fans you want to have this discussion, so thank you for being here. if you are not on our invite list and happened in here some other way and did not get an invitation to our programs, let us know, because we would be happy to put you on that list for future programs. f. , and iarles haynes direct part of this program. we are so happy to be partnering oment"gain with "m magazine, which is a wonderful publication, as many of you know, part of great programs are, together, sponsoring a discussion that is

contentious, murky, but always fascinating topic, which is the u.s. supreme court, and we have an outstanding panel. i would just note that on this years of have over 100 experience covering the u.s. supreme court, and that is just lyle denniston. [laughter] not quite, but you are going to get there soon. we are very, very fortunate to have this outstanding panel. i'm going to turn things over to opinionartz, who is the oment"r over at "ml magazine, and i will turn it over to her. >> good evening, everyone. welcome to tonight's discussion about the supreme court decisions. my name is amy schwartz, and i

am the opinion editor of "moment" magazine, and this is the premier magazine of to which culture and relisten. religion. the editor and chief is here but toiling away on a deadline, so making an appearance, and our wonderful partners, charles haynes and the freedom center of the newseum institute. we are looking forward to a wonderful evening. thank you also to the staff of both our magazine and the institute, who have done so much work to bring this evening together. that asc tonight is one recently as a couple of decades ago would have been widely considered taboo. our supreme court justices, are they influenced in their decision-making by the opinions they bring to the bench? most casual observers and even most legal observers would argue

back then that they should not be bringing religious conviction to the bench, if they had them, but as a supreme court justice, they would have said, and as john roberts contended at his confirmation hearing in 2005, far from applying his own believes, he simply calls them as he see's them. but much has changed since that earlier consensus and even since that confirmation hearing almost 10 years ago. the traditional makeup of the dramatically,ged and we know more about the views then we knew before, because the times are more wired and interactive, or simply because the justices are more vocally devout. does it matter? religious beliefs have more of an impact than they once did, and if so, what impact? where will we see the difference? separation?ate

gay rights? abortion? or things we cannot even envision? we have organized a panel. constitutional law, and in the marshall breger at the school of law at catholic university. he was a senior fellow at the heritage foundation, and during the george h.w. bush administration, he was chief lawyer of the labor department. to 1991, he was chairman of the administrative conference of the united states, and from 1987 until 1989, he served as an alternate delegate at the u.n. in geneva. he has also been a liaison to the jewish community under president reagan. practicesrmiel constitutional law. he teaches constitutional law

first amendment and a course on the supreme court. he is also part of the american bar association on individual rights, and he writes a blog about explaining the supreme court to law students. he is a co-walker of the definitive graffiti of william j brennan, who i am sure we will author on- definitive william j brennan. we have reporters who cover the , and bob charles said barr and has been a washington post reporter ever since 1987 and has covered the supreme court since november 2006, including the nominations of sonia sotomayor or and elena , and return to the court. is the senior

news reporter covering the supreme court, which he has been doing from 1958, mostly with newspapers, including the star. past 10 years, he has been running for an online clearinghouse about the supreme court. he has received numerous awards, including for legal journalism, and he has taught at colleges and universities. has covered the court and34 years for usa today more, and since 2004, the legal times, the livejournal, and the supreme court brief, a subscription newsletter. he is an author of a book published in 2005 by congressional quarterly press. he is a longtime member of the steering committee, and in 2010 was inducted into the freedom of

information hall of fame. and other institutions. so we are very grateful to all of these very knowledgeable supreme court followers for giving us their expertise, and i am going to ask each one to begin by speaking briefly on the of whether then changing makeup of the supreme court has had an effect on its jurisprudence. for the first time ever, there are no protestants on the board. three jews and six catholics, of varying clinical flavors. does this matter, and if so, how does it matter? how is it illustrated? go from this side to that side. we will start with bob lawrence.

-- barnes. set to devout justices hear religious objections to health care law. >> well, thank you for having me. it is a pleasure to be here. the reason i wrote that story is because i was talking to a former supreme court clerk, now i prominent law professor who pays a lot of attention to these issues, and he told me that when he was clerking at the supreme court, if anyone had asked him if any of the justices were religious, he would have said no, that none of them talk about it. he sought no real evidence of them being religious, and he thought that this court was very different. these justices have talked about their faith, much more, probably certainly justice scalia. he is the most outspoken about it. that intellectuals have

to be what he calls fools for christ, and to be in to say that some things are about-face, and when you think about the justices, they all have an interesting connection to religion, i think. sotomayor and thomas talk about how parochial schools really were what lifted them out and in situations, neighborhoods in which education was not terribly valued. sometimes, justice kagan, who she isy would she -- say not that religious nonetheless said she had religious instruction three times a week. she was the first girl to be bat ed at her synagogue.

she said it was good, not great, being justice kagan, and all of the justices, i think, have this connection, and i do not know if any of us can say how that they do cases, but i do think it has a big impact on those going to them. i thought, for instance, that the obama administration and the recent hobby lobby case about whether private business owners had a right to say that their religious objections keep them from offering certain kinds of contraception was a very very sort of respectful of religion deliberate from the government. all of those briefs talked over and over again about how it was not at issue what these challengers to the law believed or how valued their believes

should be, and so i think that the difference has come in the way people approach issues to the court, and maybe some of the cases that the court takes itself. we could talk about the town of beforecase about prayers a town council meeting. that is one that the court did not have to take but decided to take, and it really divided the court, so i think one thing to think about is how with the justices have said about religion affects the way people approach the court. >> i think i would have mentioned to some of the same things that bob just has about the justices, although i think there is one quote from the justice scalia article, that we must be fools for christ sake, to him and said, are

au sure there wasn't a, -- comma in there, and he liked that. [laughter] principled about their religious faith, in general. i think it could be partly because so many people -- whatever they say, anything, people are watching much more than they used to. justices uncommon for to talk about their faith, but people weren't listening maybe 20 years ago. --y it is also the case maybe it is also the case, and this may be stereotyping, that they did not speak as outwardly about their faith as some catholics and some jews. what i would say is that i think howoes have an effect on

they look at cases and look at life in the same way, coming from harvard or being born in the south has an impact on their perspectives. culturalt one of many backgrounds,heir and even justice scalia has said we come to the court. we are who we are. the come to the court with our and the elements that our parents brought to us in raising us, and we cannot avoid that. but he has said, and they all have said that they keep that separate from our professional lives, so i think it is just ,omething that is of interest

and i think that they recognize is makingthis change up six catholics and three jews. justice sotomayor or -- at law recalling that she was talking about the types of diversity that the supreme court ought to have. it ought to have more people , a civilerent areas rights attorney or two instead of a corporate lawyer, and then she said plus we all believe in god. that was kind of striking to hear that, do think that there is nobody on the court who is an atheist. i think you could argue -- we could talk about this later, but it would be interesting to think about whether a devout atheist could ever be confirmed to the

supreme court. i kind of doubt it. an atheist on the supreme court? >> i sure don't think so, and there are not many devout atheists in congress either, for that matter. when justice said he was agnostic, so that is part way there. , as well, but i will wait until it is my turn. >> go ahead. >> in some ways, i have to say i am kind of a dissenter, because i am not sure being a catholic or a jew or even a protestant -- that does not tell you much about how they're going to make decisions, probably because there are so many ways of being a catholic, so many ways of being a jew, so many ways of being a protestant. i do think that what you bring to the court, your experiences, your background tells you

something about how you're going to approach cases, and not to open up a controversy again, but i think justice sotomayor or, a latina, brings some sense to that. that is what she was bringing. thurgood marshall brought in special experience to the court. he was outvoted, it was something the justices were sensitive to. determine theover notion of the effect of religion. that one of many things are part of the influence on justices. having said that, i think the topic is very interesting, because it has to do with the selection process. there is a sensitivity. i think it was eisenhower who talked about the qualified catholic.

do with notions of representation. i mean, the notion that there be a woman on the court was important, and i guess protestants are upset that they do not have a protestant on the court, and it also raises a lot of interesting theoretical issues, because it goes directly to this question of can you leach out, to be a professional, do you have to leach out your personal distinctions, your personal characteristics, and i think that was a notion of what it was to be a professional in the 1940's and 1950's and before, so you had this view that you're supposed to remove your jewishness from being a lawyer. , ande your protestant this i think we have a different view

of the world now, and that raises some interesting questions and solve some other ones, but i think we should be aware that we are living in a just where it is not justices, but all politicians are talking about their faith. it george h.w.y, bush, one of my jobs was to sort of take him around the jewish community a bit. he could not stand wearing a yarmulke. it had nothing to do with any o is whole question, and i think one of those really goes to a point, i am just an

umpire. there is a terrific quote. by a law memorize it, professor. and he says much harm is done by the myth, but by merely putting on a black robe and taken the oath of office as a judge, a man ceases to be human and ceases of all predilections. i think that was in his second but the pointn, is as much as justices say that is what they are doing, we have around a question mark that. >> when was that? >> in the 1940's, when he was in the second circuit. want to talk partly about how things have changed. i know you're an expert. was ok. i apologize first for my boys. bornis the voice i was

with, and that is why i am not a broadcaster. [laughter] when i was in high school, i did sing in the choir, but every now and again, mrs. peterson would say, let's try it again without him. thank you for having this event and charles for sponsoring it. this is a fascinating topic. i have recently been reading a processthe ratification of the constitution, which is a fabulous work, and it is interesting how often in the ratifying conventions the questions of a religious test for public office came up as an issue, and as you know, the constitution itself insists that there not be a religious test for holding office in the national government. so to a degree for a

traditionalist like me, or at least a traditional journalist, this makes me a little uncomfortable, because i tend to think that religion is a matter of private choice and private exercise and that we should not, in fact, have our public officials in terms of how well they serve their faith. i must tell you that i am married to a baptist, who is a seminary graduate, who is about as rigid a separationist as you can find, and a lot of that has rubbed off on me, though i tend to be somewhat wary of this topic. however, there are a few areas where i do believe that the religious preferences of the justices or the religious identities, if you will, do have an impact, and i think the

steady movement towards expanding the sphere of religion in the public square is inconsiderable part a product of certainort with which fates, particularly the roman him, if youth, has will, co-opting the government in order to advance the principles of that faith. and i think -- i think that is a very important influence in this precipitouslyes moving religion more to the , and itf public affairs is very different now. i do also think that the abortion question is now driven inconsiderable part by the roman catholic perspective on abortion

, and, of course, when you talk about abortion, in this court, you have to talk about anthony annedy, who probably holds decisive vote on that subject. one cannot read his opinion in the gonzalez case, upholding the actial birth abortion without seeing how he was, if you will, take it into camp by some pretty junky science about the way women react to questions about their reproductive health and how they suffer in terminally in a good deal of agony after they have undergone this particular procedure, so i think justice kennedy is acting out of his faith in that area. , to knoways difficult where a kennedy is going to wind

, liberty, interest, because ismuch of his jurisprudence driven by the whole constitution structure and history is devoted towards the service of liberty interests, but when it comes to women's liberty interests, i think justice kennedy is pretty close to tone deaf. having said nothing controversial -- [laughter] but i apologize. i miss spoke. you are the author of a book about justice brennan. and i want to talk a little bit as lyle did. justice brennan, i think, it is to say the most ardent separationist in the modern

history of the court, and i think he was that precisely he was catholic. that is where his catholicism took him. religion,d deeply in but he believed that it was private and personal and that having religion in the public square and in public life was divisive. sake, justice brennan was on the court from 1956 until 1990. he participated in decisions prohibiting school prayer and was vilified by the catholic church for doing so. aboutt strongly enough his views in those cases to write a separate 50-page concurring opinion in the second school prayer decision in 1963, a case called abington school district versus shep, and i was

looking over that again today, about whether or not we could ever have an atheist on the court. justice brennan in his opinion in 1963 talks about the establishment clause embodied the framers conclusion that government and religion have discrete interests, which are mutually best served when each of voids too close proximity to the other. it is not only the nonbeliever who fears the injection of sectarian doctrines and controversies into the civil policy, but in a high degree, it is a devout believer who fears the secularization of the creed, which becomes too deeply involved with and dependent upon the government. i think that was the essence of justice brennan's separation, the believer, sort of having government involved in your

religion demeans your religious beliefs. and i think that was his view, and i think that view is gone. i am not even sure there is anybody on the court that would share that belief. virtually all at this time on the court, he paid personally for it. a few months after writing that opinion in 1963, he went to a was an which the bishop visiting bishop from richmond, virginia, and railed against the court with justice brennan sitting in the front row, recognizable to the bishop. at the end of the mass, justice brennan's wife kissed the bishops ring and then said to the bishop, you are not really fit to have us kiss your ring, and they did not go back to mass for three years after that.

when they went back to mass, they went to mass in virginia where they had a saturday night mass, where he thought nobody would recognize him, and nobody did for a little while, but i think things have just changed romantically. to the, that leads question about whether the same -- several people have mentioned the same religion or the same religious beliefs can lead to different outcomes in terms of one's -- the decisions that one is taken to. we have different politics. i wanted to go back and ask you draw a would distinction between what a mentionedpeople have about their religious beliefs against simply their life experiences. mentioned justice

scalia and justice sotomayor have experiences in parochial school. >> and justice thomas. >> and justice thomas, as well. how does that affect their belief in school voucher cases? theyere a suggestion that are more open to that sort of thing? maybe i have drunk the kool-aid at the court, but i do not think so. i think the justices really do make an effort to separate their own, their personal views on things like that from their decision-making. think if they have experience at parochial school, it does not mean they're going to be in favor of vouchers. unfortunately, i mean, that is

my perception, but there is another perception out there, which is the opposite, that the justices kind of fuel this one. know, the lateu term abortion case. this was when there were only five catholics on the court, and all five of them voted in favor of this law that prohibited late-term abortions, so that feeds the stereotype that catholics might be to advance the church's agenda, but, again, that is very much like, i think, the decisions where all of the republican appointed justices vote one way, and all of the democrat-appointed justices vote to the other way. i do not think it is materially

difficult from other types of influences in the justices' space -- lives. question ofhe identity, and identity factor in selecting justices leads to questions that are asked, for instance, at their confirmations about either their religious views or their willingness to separate their religious views from the court. i think, marshall, you brought up the question what can be asked. >> well, you have to be -- ought -- you cannot come right out and say, do you believe in this, so, presumably, you have to crawl your way around it. but, invariably, the justices umpire, or myan

job is to apply the rules. i am not sure if this was at a confirmation or afterwards. listen. i just apply the constitution. now, in my private morals, you cannot take me out of my skin, and my catholic, and i listen to the catholic doctrine. he can easily say that because he is an originalist. he interprets the text of the constitution as it was believed or understood at the founding. values at thatal time were also conservative values, so they would be in pregnant, you might say, into the original understanding, if you believe in a living

then, in a way, his morality views, they become more relevant, i think, so he can do it somewhat more easily than someone who believes in a living constitution or almost for the purposes of a constitution, where the moral view is in bedded. now, whether one can actually live up to that is another they, but that, i think, is general approach created even with brennan, at his confirmation -- his nomination hearings, and he had to say very , i separate -- i made my peace. publicstitution, in my life i follow the constitution, and in my private life, i am a good catholic.

so people want to know. what it means you being a catholic. that is why i said there are so many ways of being a catholic, just as there are so many ways of being a jew that it is more the social identity that you have or that social background that you have that affects how you vote much more than just a label. >> i think it is important to there is not a catholic seat on the board. there is not that there is a jewish seat on the board. justice ginsburg has said some of the justices that preceded us were jewish justices, and justice breyer and i are justices who happened to be jews, and, certainly, president george w. bush did not set out to put two catholics on the court. in fact, remember, he nominated

an evangelical protestant, harriet miers, who did not make it, so i think it is much more that they look at the ideology of the person and their background then religion. >> i think there is an irony in that. for brennan, his catholicism was the main issue at his confirmation hearing. as marshall described, they asked him, if it comes to loyalty to the pope or loyalty to the constitution, what are you going to choose, and he basically said, senator, i take the same oath to uphold the constitution that you did, but there was a controversy over whether to ask him that. there was a controversy over what he might say, and then the irony is he arguably voted less consistently with what one might consider to be catholic views.

i mean, he voted in right in favor of abortion and contraception. he voted against school prayer. he voted against various forms of financial aid to religious schools. he is about as kind of anti-catholic in his voting as imaginable. ask the question, and there is no controversy about it, and yet, we are here notussing asking whether or their religious views influence them more than 50 years ago when we did ask the question and it was controversial. >> you have to be fair. people really do not think of death this ginsburg when she was nominated as a woman judge. important to her identity, it was believed, and with the jewish justices, in spite of being jewish. cardozo was nominated in spite of being jewish, so it was not

only until frankfurt or when they thought he is replacing a jewish justice that we got into this notion of jewish representation. havehat you have when you three. now there is no need for a jewish seat. >> you brought up a little bit about this question of whether talking about the religion of a justice or a perspective justice is really about talking about their politics. we talk about how that has actually played out in recent cases? is theance, how catholicism of the various, now that there is so many, how has it played out in terms of the gay marriage decision, or even the health care laws, which you might have thought religion would play a part. did it? the hobby say in lobby case, which is the case

having to do with the right of a private business with the religious freedom act to refuse to provide contraceptive health coverage for their female employees. say that justice alito's opinion in that case very much was influenced by his religious preferences, because to exact the notion that a corporation, which is an artificial entity, can have, based on a manner of a religious police system, transferred to it by its owners. aside from being pretty close to ludicrous, it is highly debatable in terms of a social philosophy. i do think that justice alito probably went into that case believing that corporations,

because they are in some sense people -- even george romney believed that, because they are in some sense people, you probably are capable of absorbing the religious preferences and value system of their owners. i think that is probably a pretty good example of that. in gay marriage, one of the reasons that you have to read the gay marriage decisions differently, i think, is that the lead opinion was written by kennedy, but it was driven by his liberty perceptions rather than by his catholic value when you get into ist with justice kennedy, it harder to trace religious sources of his jurisprudence when he is talking about liberty interests.

i do think -- i wanted to bring up another example of where i think a jewish justice's value system influences his jurisprudence, and this has to do with justice breyer, but before he was a justice, when he was a law clerk to a jewish goldberg, whate they remember, if you read the papers at the library of had law clerks, stephen breyer. he wrote an opinion, a contrary caseon, for goldberg, in a on access to birth control measures, and he wrote a separate opinion which articulated the concept of a emanationterest as an from the 14th amendment, which,

i think, is where that concept began inserting itself into constitutional jurisprudence, and i do think that steve is probably driven by his kind of social justice instincts as a jew and believing that probably he shared those views, and that is why i think he was allowed to lay out that opinion, and i not directly traceable to his religious faith, but i think it was certainly influenced by it. >> an interesting fact about intice breyer, just to show modern times how these things can get sort of mixed up, he is a jew who was married in an anglican ceremony in which they omitted references to jesus, and he has a daughter who raises her

children as jews, and a daughter who is added to skip alien priest, so he really has everything covered. >> i would also add in relation to breyer, i think one reason for the strength of his dissent was a school voucher case thatof historical sense mixing religion and politics in the state, in the school arena will -- brings up all of the old thinks of religion, and i the protestants would view this thengly related to it, and jews would have strong things. >> marshall, you said to me in a conversation before this that

there were aspects to alito's hobby lobby decision about contraception that had to do with catholic doctrine on who is responsible. >> i do not know about catholic doctrine, but the different notions of what makes you , fromcit in an action what i understand is a lot of catholic doctrine, if you take a wide view of what makes you -- what action or not action makes you complicit in an immoral act, and it may be -- i think it is, but it is wider than ordinary notions of complicity, which you could have indirect interventions that would make you not complicit, so would not iy as some authority, because

am not, i suspect that some of these notions about what led to complicity may come from his knowledge of catholic doctrine. time to go tot questions, but before that, i to return at least briefly to this question up appearances, and, tony, i think you are an expert on something called the red mass? can you explain about that? would just mention it briefly. it is an extraordinary event held each year with the catholic archdiocese of washington. it is a red mass. occurs on the sunday before the first monday in october, which is when the supreme court term begins, and it has become thata regularized ritual it is like being celebratory kickoff of the supreme court term. the point, to a

degree, that lyle was making earlier, that the catholic church may be more than other churches has made a project of trying to impose its doctrine on the judiciary and other parts of and it is --t, looking at it cynically, this is an opportunity for the roman catholic church to have a catholic audience that includes almost always six out of the nine justices for proselytizing or not proselytizing but sermonizing issues that concern it, and it is really -- i cannot think of any other institution that has that type of access to the supreme court. years -- i have been covering it as a news event for probably 25 years or so. earlier years, like the sermons were

very politicized. abortiond rail against , that anyof murder law that advances abortion is but that kind of rubbed certain justices the wrong way. in fact, justice ginsburg -- that is the thing that not only butolic justices attend, jewish justices a few weeks ago, justices kagan and another see,ded, along with, let's four of the catholic justices, but, anyway, justice ginsburg of theannoyed about one sermons, it was so antiabortion, that she vowed she would never

go again, and she said that even friends- she is close with the scalia family, even they were embarrassed iv stridency of the sermon. since then, it has gotten much more toned down, although there is still quite a bit of talk in the sermons about the separation and how itnd state is appropriate for people of faith to bring their faith to work with them. and i think to have that annual opportunity, to make that plight , i think it is an interesting thought, and it is special to the supreme court. whether the justices then go home and put into practice, i don't know.

>> i mean, to me, the very existence of this event, and i recognize it has been going on for a long time, suggest its own ofropriety, and regardless what is said at the sermon, one of the core issues now in the town of greece, in the legislative prayer case 30 years ago, the argument that the prayer is not religious, it just has a solemnizing effect on that is what the catholic church is claiming it is doing here. putting its own spin on the supreme court term. to go to the mass is to accept the validity of that argument. i think that is inappropriate. >> i think that is a little unfair. whatever they are, they are autonomous beings.

they are not going to be proselytized or overwhelmed. i don't know if the town of greece has anything to do with it. that is where there was an official state or government event. this is a voluntary activity. reyer the first year he went to be he said, it is unifying. it is a good way to start. >> blessing the supreme court term. >> we don't get up set when a police -- priest or rabbi blesses the yachting ring.

some communities depend on the fishing season, the priest blesses the boasts. -- boats. if you have ever attended the national prayer breakfast, most ,f the congress and cabinet including jewish congressman, they are all there getting a religious message. we have this. also, a kind of feature in american society which is less separating or do --inal emotional denominational aspect of religion but religion. the way if angelical's used to think catholics were the -- the way evangelicals used to think catholics were the core of

babylon. can i said it -- can i say that on tv? i think it is extreme to say it is profit ties in. -- proselytizing. >> there has never been a president inaugurated without a prayer. >> let me being extremist. they are two places in washington from which supreme court justices should stay away religiously. one is the state of the union. not lowe of which is comedy, it is high comedy. experience forng a self-respecting judge to go and sit there. pretend to be interested in what is going on. pretend to be detached from it. the other place they should not be seen is the red mass.

the red mass -- when i grew up in nebraska, we used to talk about the fox in the chicken coop. going to the red masses putting yourself in the chicken coop. when the priest gets up, he is the fox. he is very interested in consuming those who sit in the audience. [laughter] just to be a little bit moderate about that, there are two bank places where justices should make up their minds that that is inappropriate to their job. >> maybe we should stop on that note. open this up to questions from the audience. are two microphones. we are asking you to go to one of them. and speak. you can maybe identify yourself before you do so. -- weas wondering about

have to justices who are involved with opus dei. i was wondering if you thought that was appropriate? >> is a religious view. unless you want to go back to the 1915 notion that catholic followin government whatever rome says, whatever the pope says, that is their religious view. they have the right to do that, like a jew -- >> there are no jews that are part of the -- >> unless you are saying that an orthodox jew could never be on the supreme court, that is a contingency. generally it could happen. religious have their views.

>> i'm not saying they should be on the court or not. i'm wondering how that might impact someone on the court. if there are any kind of activity that should rise to the level of disqualifying or recusing a justice from serving or serving on a case? >> justice scalia recused himself from a really important case over the phrase, under god, in the pledge of allegiance. he had attended an event at which his son, a priest, appeared. justice scalia undertook to a opine on the- issue. he did thereafter take himself out of the case, did not participate.