This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 1:19 PM- PROVO - Brigham Young University students tried to pin down the chief justice of the U.S. on hot-button topics like extraordinary rendition and Guantanamo Bay detainees during his speech today at the Mariott Center.
After spending nearly half an hour talking about the Constitution, Chief Justice John Roberts took another 40 minutes for questions from the approximately 7,000 students, faculty and family members in the audience.
Evan Crockett, a 23-year-old student, wanted to know how Supreme Court decisions could affect foreign policy in matters like detainees. The justice said the court doesn't even take such ideas into consideration.
"My question was pretty loaded," Crockett admitted. "I felt he gave a solid answer without going too far."
His father had a different take on Roberts' answers:
"He was very circumspect, careful," Barry Crockett said. "He measured every word."
During his speech, Roberts urged the students to read the Constitution, saying they will come away with a new respect for the nation's Founding Fathers.
The men who wrote the nation's first laws came from all walks of life but shared a common commitment to service, he said.
Of the three branches of government, Roberts said the judicial branch should play a limited role.
Roberts was having lunch with the law school dean before an afternoon question-and-answer session with law students.