"The torture continues..."

Thanks to the VC for the pointer to an interview with Justice Kennedy. Kennedy, thanks to decisions like Kelo, is not at the top of my list of legal heroes. He does, however, hold one of the nine most powerful legal seats in the world, and so I read the interview anyway.

If you wish to read about his childhood, start at page one, but otherwise the best stuff is starts on page 3. The best question, which revealed Kennedy's inspirations, was almost the last and is a staple of the Academy of Achievement,they asked, "What books would you read to your grandchildren? What are the important books to you?" Here is Justice Kennedy's response:

I think fiction is very important because it gets us into the mind of a person. Hamlet is a tremendous piece of literature. You know Hamlet better than you know most real people. Do you know the reason? Because you know what he's thinking. And this teaches you that every human has an integrity and an autonomy and a spirituality of his own, of her own, and great literature can teach you that. Billy Budd, Antigone, are very important works. Antigone is brilliant. You know, in literature, the woman is a symbol of mercy and of equity: Antigone, Portia -- Rosa Parks, to use a real person. That's why Justice is a woman, even though she has a sword sometimes. I don't know if that fits, but so: Antigone, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Billy Budd, Nineteen Eighty-Four. You and I grew up with a great fear of the Soviet military might. Nineteen Eighty-Four has one of the brilliant scenes in literature. The protagonist is being tortured by his communist or totalitarian interrogators, and they want him to say that "Two and two is five." And finally he can't stand the torture anymore, he says, "Okay, two and two is five." But the torture continues. He said, "Why are you continuing?" They say, "The torture continues not until you just say it, but until you believe it." And this is a powerful reminder that governments want to plan your destiny. They want to plan what you think, and this must never happen. And so Nineteen Eighty-Four is a book of tremendous importance, I think, in that regard.

So Justice Kennedy believes the government should keep their dirty little paws off my destiny. I'm not sure how that jives with his liberal record of decisions, but he is absolutely right. I have not yet read 1984, but you can bet that is now on my short list and my froogle list. I hope to see Justice Kennedy use the "1984" judicial test for more of his decisions.