A pantheon of American judicial and political leaders was on hand for a two-day conference at the Law Center that began yesterday to discuss the independence of the judiciary.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor served as co-chairs of the conference, which focused on the role of the courts in American society amid recent charges that the judiciary wields too much power.

In a speech during the dinner at the Mandarin Orient Hotel last night, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized the importance of fighting political encroachment on an independent judiciary while noting that these attacks come from both parties.

“I think conferences like this are so important because the attacks on judicial independence continue,” Roberts said. “I will point out that they are utterly bipartisan. Neither side in the political arena has a monopoly on the tactic.”

Despite the attacks, Roberts said that he believes America is a society that usually respects judicial independence.

The chief justice stressed that judges should not take their independence for granted.

“I should be clear about what judicial independence is not. It is not immunity from criticism. We must recognize that with independence comes responsibility,” Roberts said.

Roberts also warned judges against taking activist stances from the bench.

Breyer, who spoke during a lunch yesterday in the Hotung Building on the Law Center campus, said that judges must execute the laws faithfully even when they are in tension with practices that have become acceptable in society.

“This is the United States. We have a rule of law,” Breyer said. “Think of how long it’s taken us to learn that,” he said, referencing divisive historical periods like the dispute over desegregation.

O’Connor, who spoke during the question-and-answer period following Breyer’s speech, said that as a judge, she was able to enforce even those laws with which she disagreed personally because she believed in the oath of office she swore.

“That doesn’t bother me, because I took that oath,” she said.

A range of issues related to the judiciary flared up during a panel discussion in McDonough Hall following the lunch. The panel featured former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), former Senator and Georgetown professor Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), former Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Stephen Burbank and former White House Chief of Staff Kenneth Duberstein, who moderated.

The panel quickly became a case of Gingrich versus everyone else, as the former speaker sharply criticized the judiciary for exerting authority it did not have over the other branches and American popular opinion in many recent cases.

“The commitment should be to the rule of law, not the rewriting of law,” he said.

Rudman was among Gingrich’s most vocal detractors during the panel, arguing that the court’s ability to make final decisions independent of the popular will was fundamental in cases like Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legal segregation in public schools.

“In my humble opinion, there has to be a final arbiter in this country,” he said. Gingrich countered that legal segregation was the product of another Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson.

Rudman said he was dismayed by the nastiness that characterizes American politics today and placed the blame on school children, “who don’t have a clue as to what this system’s all about.”

Gingrich agreed that the political environment had become toxic, describing America as “20 percent Republican, 20 percent Democrat and 60 percent disgusted.”

Roberts closed by thanking the conference for its willingness to promote the importance of judicial independence, saying that the efforts made an impact on his work as chief justice.

“I’m looking forward to starting a new term next week with renewed confidence because of your willingness to help us protect the independence of the judiciary that is so vital to the rule of law,” Roberts said.

Other attendees at the conference included Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Clarence Thomas and David Souter.

Attendance at the conference was by invitation only. The conference was co-sponsored by the American Law Institute.

– Hoya Staff Writer Stephen Santulli contributed to this report