My Three Picks of the Week
Lord Sumption on his life and career, the American Constitution, and the "Expanding Empire of the Law"
Jonathan Sumption started out as a medieval historian at Oxford, where he also taught as a Fellow of Magdalen College, and throughout his life he conducted historical research. His best-known work is his five-volume history of the Hundred Years War. He subsequently moved from his secure position as an Oxford Don (free lunches and dinners, mind you!) and embarked on a highly illustrious career as a lawyer, serving as a barrister and laters as a Justice of the Supreme Court (2012 - 2018) of the United Kingdom.
Sumption decided to transfer from history to law because he judged, quite uncontroversially, that a career at the London bar would be infinitely more lucrative than spending his time teaching students and dining at various Oxford High Tables. All the more so as those High Tables remained in close proximity for someone like him. But I doubt he had much time for them, given his schedule as a lawyer.
What fascinates me about him is his deeply historical perspective on the law. In part, this reflects the common law tradition, where law evolves, slowly yet flexibly, in response to the changes a society undergoes in terms of its orientations and values. But, at least in his case, it also reflects his training as a historian. He has written several books that explore the relationship between the law and politics, broadly conceived, my favourite of which is called Trials of the State…
Anyway, being a historian and a lawyer with an intellectual edge, Sumption is worth listening to. So here are three clips. The first offers a good insight into his life and career, while the second and third are focused, respectively, on the American Constitution and on judicial activism.