{"id":14649,"date":"2016-09-21T09:38:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T14:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=14649"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:29:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:29:02","slug":"totenberg-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=14649","title":{"rendered":"NPR\u2019s Nina Totenberg discusses \u2018The Supreme Court and the Presidency\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nina
Nina Totenberg in a conversation on “The Supreme Court and the Presidency” with UNC School of Law’s Michael Gerhardt. (photo by Kristen Chavez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

National Public Radio\u2019s award-winning legal correspondent Nina Totenberg said she admired the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February, \u201cas a person, as a friend and as a story.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a talk before a packed audience at Memorial Hall on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus Tuesday night, Totenberg recalled a conversation she had with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about Scalia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI interviewed Ginsburg for a book that\u2019s coming out about her writings. And I said, \u2018What did you love about him?\u2019\u201d Totenberg said. \u201cGinsburg [replied], \u2018It\u2019s like that movie \u2018Roger Rabbit.\u2019 He makes me laugh. He was the best storyteller, the best company. We both cared about how an opinion was written and the words on the paper.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From
From left, associate professor of political science Isaac Unah, an expert on the Supreme Court, with Nina Totenberg and Student Erin Babilon, who is majoring in political science, and peace, war and defense.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Totenberg came to campus as the Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor<\/a> in the College of Arts and Sciences. She discussed \u201cThe Supreme Court and the Presidency\u201d in a conversation with Michael Gerhardt, Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor at the UNC School of Law.<\/p>\n

In opening remarks, Chancellor Carol L. Folt said, \u201cSo many of us gather our news in different ways \u2026 but if you\u2019re like me, there\u2019s nothing like listening to the news, and I have been listening to Nina Totenberg for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerhardt asked Totenberg her thoughts on the current delay in the appointment of President Obama\u2019s nominee, Merrick Garland, to fill Scalia\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this becomes the new normal, you could have a court that\u2019s pretty small. It\u2019s bringing the same kind of gridlock to the courts that has existed in Congress increasingly over the last decade or two,\u201d Totenberg said. \u201cMerrick Garland has become the person waiting the longest \u2014 sitting in limbo \u2014 as a Supreme Court nominee. \u2026 What happens when somebody else gets sick or dies?\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Totenberg has covered the Supreme Court for more than four decades, she said she didn\u2019t always want to be a legal correspondent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got assigned to cover the Supreme Court. As it turns out, I was really quite good at it,\u201d she said. \u201cI was not a lawyer so I actually had to communicate with people. \u2026 It\u2019s extremely complicated to do an audio piece that works because there is a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo\u2026 . The challenge was to find a way to do oral argument stories so that people had the feeling of being there. And for those of you who listen, I do it by trying to capture the essence of the argument.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerhardt also asked Totenberg about covering the story in the early \u201990s about allegations by Anita Hill of sexual harassment claims against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left, UNC Law Professor Michael Gerhardt, Chancellor Carol Folt, NPR Correspondent Nina Totenberg and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kevin Guskiewicz. (photo by Kristen Chavez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI have to say, I knew this would be a big story, but I also knew if Anita Hill went to ground and didn\u2019t stand by what she was saying, it could wither on the vine,\u201d said Totenberg. \u201cBut this just blew sky high.\u201d<\/p>\n

A highlight of the evening was during the Q&A at the end of the talk, when a member of the audience asked Totenberg, \u201cIf nominated to the Supreme Court, would you serve?\u201d<\/p>\n

The question was met with laughter from the audience, then applause.<\/p>\n

To wrap up the evening, College Dean Kevin M. Guskiewicz presented Totenberg with an award honoring her with the Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professorship, created in 1989 to bring prominent individuals to speak on matters of major significance. The Frey Foundation is chaired by alumnus David Gardner Frey (B.A. \u201964, J.D. \u201967.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Kim Spurr, College of Arts and Sciences<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National Public Radio\u2019s award-winning legal correspondent Nina Totenberg said she admired the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February, \u201cas a person, as a friend and as a 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