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In The New York Times Book Review, John Fabian Witt reviews the Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s “The Court and the World,” which considers whether foreign law should have a place in interpreting the American Constitution. Mr. Witt writes:
According to critics on the court and elsewhere, international rule making is government from afar: It threatens the very project of constitutional independence that the framers set in motion in 1787. Breyer, by contrast, sees the role of courts in a radically different light. In democracies, he says, courts are specialized problem solvers. Judicial isolationism, he rightly insists, will make it difficult for judges to address the kinds of problems we need them to solve in the ever smaller world of the 21st century.
On this week’s podcast, Mr. Witt talks about “The Court and the World”; Alexandra Alter has news from the literary world; Mira Jacob discusses three new coming-of-age novels; Sam Tanenhaus reminisces about the podcast; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.