i read that justice david souter has an extremely hard work ethic.ow that a new judge is arriving i was wondering if you can elaborate n how it will change the makeup of the court? guest: sonia sotomayor took over in october for justice david souter who returned to new hampshire. he had a great interest in leaving washington. justice david souter loved his job, but did not like living in washington. he was an extremely hard worker. it is one area where he and sonia sotomayor are very simmlar. both are really hard workers who want to read and digest everything, go through all the briefs. she has finished her first year and i would ssy she has voted very similarly to david souter. on the moderate to liberal side on all big issues. it will be awhileebefore we know down the road whether she -pis really different. the court -- i cannot think of any case this year for you can say the accord was different because david souter was gone and sonia sotomayor took his place. host: presumably justice stevens has just about pack up and is moving out of his offices

the dc gun case on behalf ot -- of the district of columbia, and a case where he tricked justice souter and struck down an outrageous punitive damage award. he won all the cases argued this year, even if the win on behalf of north carolina is not as well noted. but to his left -- but not politically -- is richard epstein. he is the newly-minted lawrence a. tisch professor at nyu law school, still affiliated with chicago, but more famously he was a professor, dean, former head -- director of the law and economics program. richard is well known from his research and writing on a wide range of subjects. he has written dozens of books, hundreds of articles, and edited some very influential legal journals. here are the subjects he taught at the university of chicago. labor law, patent, property, tort, real estate, finance, and individual and corporate taxation. it is perhaps for this range -- did i? >> you also left out that he taught the same thing in every course. >> richard was elected at a ripe young age to the american academy of arts and sciences in 1985. last but not least, greg barr,

during the, justice souter made the comment juries are smarter than justices and that kind of rang true. i really ft like the first obligates's our court system trying to sanctify the jur high heard all of the evidence and so all o the testimony, our citizens heard the law. were able to interpret it. pretty bright iowans. i think discrimination is a little bit like pornography. you may not be able to define it clearly but you know it when you see it and i believe the jury did. secondly when we got to th hearing and we had presented everything that had been briefed, i had personally spent $11,000 just of printing costs for the briefs, once we got there, and we got the argument, solicitor general took afl half of our time and made an argument on our behalf and all of a sudden we were just blindsided. they decided, let's just take off in a new direction. instead of addressing the issue they agreed to take, they said let's go back and look at the entire context ofhe adea, and the language of it, and essentially they just redefined the law. >> thank you. you've already answered that from you

. >> well, justice souter departed on the left, although a george h.w.bush replaced by sonia sotomay or. and this year we saw unusual combinations among the justices where sonia sotomayor could be with any number of different alignments and with elena kagan coming in, i think will you see more of that, for ten years the supreme court didn't change. now we have had john roberts, sam alito, sonia sotomayor and presumably elena cagar. >> in a short period. >> over the past 15 years that a big shake-up in the last five in particular, and so i think that's a good thing. if the court is just perceived as a bunch of idea logs, okay, it will be 5-4 and we'll see what way kennedy goes. i think it is progress just getting that renewed energy. >> brown: that does mean naomi that a lot of this is a work in progress because a lot of these people are still relatively new? >> i think that that is right. i mean if elena kagan is confirmed we'll have four new justices in a span of five years which as tom said is a tremendous amount of turnover. and with the new chief jus

case on behalf of the district of columbia and the now infamous case in which he trekked justice souter into writing is supposedly activist protest corporate decision striking down and out regis punitive damage award on the maritime law in exxon bursa's becker. he won all of his cases he argued this year even if his win on behalf of north carolina is not as well noted as of yet. to his left, but not politically [laughter] is richard epstein. he is a newly minted laurence a. tisch professor at new york university law school. the university of chicago law school where he taught me but more famously he was a long-term professor and acting dean and the former head of director of curriculum and law and economics richard is well known for his research and writing in a broad range of constitutional economic, historical, and philosophical subjects. he has written more than a dozen important books and articles and has edited some influential legal journals. instead of going into some of that, this will give you a flavor of the range of his expertise. here are the subject he taught at the univers

sotomayor, because of her back as a prosecutor, would be tougher on criminal defendants then perhaps souter was. i do not think we saw any evidence of that at all during this term, and we throw in the usual disclaimer that the first year does not mean you can predict that, but i do not think we saw that anywhere. as far as how the court changes it changes a lot.tevens, i sink- he really was the leader of that side othe justices, and it is sort o inside baseball to a great extent, but who gets to a sign the opinions that are risen -- written? -- i think it changes the dynamic of the conference, what some people have talked about an order in whh the justices speak and lay out the cases, so exactly how to changes i think depends a lot on e cases they take, but i certainly think it is a big change. >> i will -- because of the convenient scheduling of the confirmation hearings to the conflict with e last date of the supreme court term, i missed the first two days because i was covering what the cour decided, so i cannot say i know everything that elena kagan said during a hearing, but two things

during the, justice souter made the comment juries are smarter than justices and that kind of rang true. i really felt like the first obligates's our court system trying to sanctify the jur high heard all othe evidence and so all of the testimony, our citizens heard the law. were able to interpret it. pretty bright iowans. i think discrimination is a little bit like pornography. you may not be able to fine it clearly but you know it when you see it and i believe the jury did. secondlyhen we got to the hearing and we had presented everything that had been briefed, i had personally spent $11,000 just of printing costs for the briefs, once we got there, and we got the argument, solicitor general took afl half of our time and made an agument on our behalf and l of a sudden we were just blindsided. they decided, let's just take off in a new direction. instead of addressing the issue they agreed to take, they said let's go back and look at the entire context of the ea, and the language of it, and essentially they just redefined the law. >> thank you. you've alrea answed that from your communi

gun ce on behalf of the district of columbia and the now infamous case in which he trekked justice souterto writing is supposedly activist protest corporate decision striking down and out regis punitive damage award on the maritime law in exxon bursa's becker. he won all of his cases he argued this year even if his win on behalf of north carolina is not as well noted as of yet. to his left, but not politically [laughter] is richard epstein. he is a newly minted laurence a. tisch professor at new york university law school. the university of chicago law school where he taught me but more famously he was a long-term professor and acting dean and the former head of director of curriculum and lawnd economics richard is well known for his research and writing in a broad range of constitutional economic, historical, and philoshical subjects. he has written more than a dozen important books and articles and has edited some influential lel journals instead of going into some of that, this will give you a flavor of the range of his expertise. here are the subject he taught at the university of chi