American optimism

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 16th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Legal Docket.

Well, Congressional Democrats maintain the pressure on Supreme Court justices whose opinions they dislike. Last week, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stood up in the House:

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: I rise today to introduce articles of impeachment against Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Anthony Alito Jr.

EICHER: The day before, Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ron Wyden sought the appointment of a special counsel to open a criminal investigation of Justice Thomas.

They accuse him of accepting undisclosed gifts. And both Thomas and Justice Alito they accuse of ignoring supposed conflicts of interest in cases before them and failing to recuse.

Each denies any wrongdoing.

REICHARD: This effort by Ocasio-Cortez is more about starting things than ending them. Republicans control the House and, if push came to shove, a number of Democrats would vote no because they couldn’t live with the precedent.

But they won’t have to. House Speaker Mike Johnson said AOC’s impeachment articles—his words—are going straight into the trash can.

I’ll note that the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg didn’t recuse from the same sex-marriage cases, even though she’d officiated same-sex weddings before they were legal. Justice Elena Kagan didn’t recuse when Harvard’s race-based admissions policy came before the court, even though she is a former dean of Harvard Law School. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson omitted reporting her husband’s consulting income. There’s more, but you get the idea.

EICHER: In light of the furies unleashed upon him, today we will hear Justice Alito’s commencement speech he gave back in May at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

He told the nearly 900 graduates that the Constitution contains lessons for both the Republic and for our personal lives.

Justice Alito spoke for about 20 minutes. We have highlights, used by permission.

REICHARD: He starts with a reference to pop culture of the past, mentioning Rodney Dangerfield, whose character Thornton Mellon delivered a minute-long graduation speech in the movie Back to School in 1986:

JUSTICE ALITO: This is what he said: “To all you graduates, as you go out in the world, my advice to you is, Don't go! It's rough out there! Move back with your parents. Let them pay all the bills and worry about it.”

But as he wanted the day to be happy for both graduates and their parents, he advised the new grads reject that advice and boldly engage the world. Their contributions are vital with a world so rough.

EICHER: Justice Alito then turned to the backbone of his work as a judge and justice: The U.S. Constitution. It’s endured, he said, because it rests on a deep understanding of human nature. It’s only about 46-hundred words, sets out the structure of our government, and protects basic rights. The rest is left to the American people.

And those ideas have a personal application, Alito says:

JUSTICE ALITO: We can make the effort to keep in mind what is fundamental and permanent in our lives. And that is absolutely critical, because the things that call out most loudly for our attention on a daily basis are not necessarily the things that matter most in the end. They are not the things that are going to count on our final report card, and we can all pray that when we receive our final report card, there will be a very generous degree of grade inflation.

REICHARD: Justice Alito pointed to another feature of our Constitution: changing it is difficult. Any amendment needs two-thirds approval of both houses of Congress and then must be ratified by three-quarters of the states. Of the more than 10-thousand constitutional amendments considered, only 27 passed.

EICHER: That’s no accident. It reflects the Framers’ design. They said in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights:

JUSTICE ALITO: That short and famous statement speaks volumes. And one of the most important things it says is that there are certain moral principles that are true and immutable. These principles of right and wrong are not relative or circumstantial. They are not of our making, and it is not within our power to change them, even though at times we might find that convenient.

Founders also had a realistic understanding of human nature. They did not think that human beings are, or ever will be, angels. On the contrary, humans, at times, may be overcome by fear, anger, envy, sloth, and greed. So they fortified their work against the ill winds they knew would sometimes blow. They knew that times would inevitably come when the people would be tempted to make hurried and unwise changes. The precipitating event might be a domestic or an international crisis. It might be overt or subtle pressure of others, the temptation to take the easy road and just go along. It might be the latest intellectual fad. It might be the perception of where history is going. But whatever the cause, they knew that such times would come, and they knew that in the long run, the country's well being depended on the ability to resist these temptations.

REICHARD: He then pointed to a decision the high court handed down right after the Civil War that held the Framers foresaw that “troublous times” would arise. Times when rulers and people become restive, leading to peril of constitutional principles, without established irreparable law.

JUSTICE ALITO: This same fundamental idea that there are certain principles that we cannot compromise without paying a fearsome price, applies to our personal lives. For almost all of us, there will be troublous times and times of temptation. When they come, if we have fixed and clear principles, principles that are written in bold letters on our hearts, we may be able to find our way through. If we don't, we can easily go astray. Right now in the world outside this beautiful campus, troubled waters are slamming against some of our most fundamental principles. Support for freedom of speech is declining dangerously, especially where it should find broadest and widest acceptance.

Troubled waters lash other freedoms, too.

JUSTICE ALITO: Religious liberty is also threatened. When you venture out into the world, you may find yourself in a job or a community or a social setting where you will be pressured to endorse ideas you don't believe or to abandon core beliefs. It will be up to you to stand firm, it will be up to you to speak out.

EICHER: But the Constitution was also designed to accommodate change. He continued:

JUSTICE ALITO: We are a nation of change. As I said, the founders knew that humans are not angels, but at the same time, they did not expect the Americans who would populate the New Republic they were creating to be self centered individuals, obsessed only with achieving maximum satisfaction of their individual desires. Their ideal of a citizen was very different. It was a person of character who was strong, prudent, temperate and fair, a person who was willing to sacrifice for the good of others, for family members, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens.

Those were traits the Framers saw in ordinary people capable of self government. Traits brought about through teaching, strong families, and institutions. That’s why the Framers allowed for change within reason.

JUSTICE ALITO: In the same way, your challenge during troubled times will be to distinguish between dedication to principles that never change, and mere nostalgia for the past. In order to engage our society and try to make it a better place, that is essential, and that requires judgment and prudence. Our society needs you to do just that.

REICHARD: Justice Alito emphasized reason and respectful argumentation. He said our legal system respects tradition and most any opinion of the court will cite past court decisions. Yet precedent is not written in stone, and sometimes a ruling should be overruled. But not lightly.

JUSTICE ALITO: This principle has application in life as well. We know much more than our ancestors about many things, but not necessarily about what is most important, including the way to live a good and meaningful life. And so there should be a presumption in favor of venerable wisdom.

Finally, Justice Alito ended with this:

JUSTICE ALITO: I congratulate you on what you have achieved, and I look forward with American optimism to see what you will do when, contrary to Rodney Dangerfield's advice, you take the plunge into the real world. Congratulations to all of you. [Applause]

That was Justice Samuel Alito delivering the commencement speech at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.