In a new book, retired Justice Stephen Breyer argues the Constitution should be viewed as a set of principles

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Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer discussed his new book at the National Constitution Center on Thursday, offering his views on how the Constitution should be interpreted.

Breyer’s new book, “Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism,” argues the document should be viewed as a workable set of principles rather than examining it as it was written at the time.

The book uses examples of cases such as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which led to the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Breyer, one of the dissenters in Dobbs v. Jackson, said textualism aims to make things clear, and the system makes it difficult for judges to substitute what they interpret the law requires. Breyer asks his imaginary textualist opponent, “Why did you overrule Roe?”

“Isn’t there a principle in the law called stare decisis? Which means something decided is decided — and don’t change it even if it’s wrong,” Breyer said. “Now that’s not 100%. The court did change Plessy v. Ferguson [and] went to Brown v. Board, I’m glad they did. It’s not 100%, but you better limit it. So I would like to know Mr. Textualist, what are you going to overrule next?”

Breyer said a “tidal wave of textualism” has swept through the country, which he said doesn’t enable people to ask what the purpose behind decisions is and how the consequences of a decision can aid or hurt an objective.

“That’s basically what I’m doing,” Breyer said. “Telling people? No, I’m trying to show them with examples, with enough examples… if they get to the end of this book, they’ll be able to say, ‘He’s asking me… to make up my own mind.’”

“It’s something that people have to learn about, think about and decide for themselves,” Breyer said. “And in my own view, I think we’ll get a lot farther with the Supreme Court doing what I think it ought to do than we will just by saying, ‘Oh, it’s all politics.’ That doesn’t help you very much.”

Thursday’s conversation was moderated by NCC President Jeffrey Rosen. Breyer was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1994 by Pres. Bill Clinton. He retired in 2022 and was replaced with Ketanji Brown Jackson, who became the first Black woman to serve on the high court.