there are several biographies about john marshall and oliver wendell holmes there is supposed to be biographies of others like robert jackson. >> this is unusual is a biography of a sitting judge sitting handstanding. [laughter] >> they're all dead? >> and hopefully will be with us for awhile but so the one question that comes up with your judging pushing the boundaries for relative to other judges with a intellectual one and your fuel -- a view of the role of the judge with a fax so in terms of the biography is a possible to know too much about a judge? should a biography be limited in? >> what kind of limitation? that they are stepping aside their rule. and you don't degrade much with that line of thought with that majesty of the judge. >> it's witchcraft. [laughter] back. >> it is call strength and weakness with at fellow judiciary. i thought sounded too esoteric so about 320 page synopsis. [laughter] eye bank the supreme court is awful idol think the judges are very good. probably only aimed a couple of the justices are qualified and they are okay. so the opinions will be alright. we don't

have to breathe into it he experience of modern life and contemporary society which is what oliver wendell holmes said a judge sho >> guest: which is what a judge should do when interpreting the law. >> host: james zirin, author of "supremely partisan" can be found on his website jimzirin.com. thank you for joining us. >> c-span, "washington journal" life every day. coming up saturday morning, washington bureau chief of the crime report, ted guess, will discuss the increase of violent crime in the u.s. then, military times pentagon reporter andrew tillman is on to talk about why 600 additional troops are being sent to iraq and u.s. efforts against isis in iraq and syria. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal" live at 7:00 eastern saturday morning. join the discussion. >> c-span's city tour along with comcast will explore the literary life and history of pueblo, colorado. >> i think it speaks to how this is a national place to settle. >> and then colorado state university professor talks about the deadly strike between minors and the colorado fuel and iron company which resulted in a publi

have to breathe into it he experience of modern life and contemporary society which is what oliver wendell holmesd a judge should do in interpreting the law. host: author of "supremely partisan" how raw politics tips the scales in the u.s. supreme court. an be found on his website

there are several biographies about john marshall and oliver wendell holmes. there was supposed to be a biography of others that never got written, robert jackson. >> this was unusual, biography of a sitting judge. sitting, standing and beyond. >> they are all dead, aren't they? >> i was wondering, in your judging, pushing the boundary relative to other judges in terms of being a public intellectual, your view of the role of the judge taking facts and so on, the question in terms of the biography is it possible to know too much about a judge to be a judge? some things are off-limits, a biographer should be limited is what they are asking about. >> what kind of limitation? >> if the public knowing about it. some criticism about judges serving republican intellectual stemming outside the role and compromise neutrality, you don't agree much with that line of thought, the majesty of the judge. >> i am writing a book now, almost finished, strength and weakness in the american legal system, entirely about the judiciary, i thought that would sound too esoteric. i hav

a famous supreme court opinion, oliver wendell holmes who wouldn't agree with donald trump on anythingd pay a nickel more than they actually owe. having said that, the issue is where did the times get this and is there a problem with them publishing it? i almost said punishing. they claim they got it in the mail. the return address was trump tower. >> on this week with george stephanopoulos, a woman said it was in the mailbox. they went to see the accountant in florida, semiretired. yeah, that's me i did that. >> journalists with ethics, they should have presented it to donald trump or representatives of him, not somebody who worked for him 30 years ago and say is this yours and do you want to comply with it. he'll be on the show later today. you can ask him if they did that. i doubt that they did. they should have done it. why? because they had a document in their hands protected by the highest degree of protection we have for civilian documents. not government documents. once you file it, it achieves the protection of a government document. >> his attorney said that they obtained thi