What a Supreme Court Justice Does
I was listening to Preet Bharara's Stay Tuned podcast, where he had former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on as a guest. Breyer related a story about when he was talking to a class of 7th graders, and asked them what a Supreme Court Justice does. None of them knew. So he told them about a French biologist who was traveling by train with a box of snails he was studying. The conductor told him he would have to buy tickets for the snails, because the train had a rule where all animals had to be in a basket and needed to have a half-price ticket.
"Are you crazy?" said the biologist. "That rule is obviously for pets like dogs and cats!" The conductor said nevertheless, since snails are animals, the rule applied to them, too.
Breyer then asked the class if snails were animals, and if the biologist should have bought tickets for them. A lively discussion ensued, with students arguing over whether snails were animals and if the ticket rule applied to them. After this had gone on for a while, Breyer said "this is what Supreme Court Justices do."
"Are you crazy?" said the biologist. "That rule is obviously for pets like dogs and cats!" The conductor said nevertheless, since snails are animals, the rule applied to them, too.
Breyer then asked the class if snails were animals, and if the biologist should have bought tickets for them. A lively discussion ensued, with students arguing over whether snails were animals and if the ticket rule applied to them. After this had gone on for a while, Breyer said "this is what Supreme Court Justices do."
