U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the keynote speaker for the event on Saturday in Toronto, said that it was up to the lawyers, judges and other legal professionals in attendance to help change the tone of politics and government in the United States.
"Every one of us is in a position to teach the importance of civility, education and the rule of law," said Breyer. He added, "Now, I'm getting a little preachy."
Breyer, appointed to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1994, spoke for about 20 minutes to a packed house at Koerner Hall, home of the Historic Royal Conservatory of Music.
The speech was part of the official kickoff for the ABA annual meeting in Toronto, where about 7,000 attendees, mostly lawyers and judges, have gathered. The five-day event, which includes continuing legal education courses, a two-day session of the ABA House of Delegates and awards ceremonies, runs through Aug. 9. The ABA, a national voluntary bar organization, has about 400,000 members.
Breyer, entertaining in front of the crowd of about 1,000, said that discourse may be less than polite inside the Beltway of late, but the nine high court justices remain courteous to one another -- even when faced with sharply diverging points of view.
"I've never heard a voice raised in that conference room in 17 years," Breyer said.
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