Breyer discusses international law in Memphis college visit

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer says it would benefit U.S. judges to study how other countries handle cases related to important global subjects such as terrorism, immigration, civil rights, health and environmental issues.

Breyer delivered a speech and answered questions from a moderator before about 500 people at Rhodes College in Memphis as part of the school’s program for Constitution Day, which took place Sept. 17. Breyer is the second sitting Supreme Court justice to speak at the private liberal arts university in recent years. Justice Antonin Scalia spoke at Rhodes in September 2015.

Breyer touched on theories of globalization, versus localism or tribalism, stressing that the perception that those ideas are “at war” with each other is false.

Breyer was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994.