Dr. Peter Welsh with Justice Albie Sachs
Contact Person:
Tobe Daum
tgdaum@gmail.com
South African Constitutional Court Justice (Supreme Court of South Africa) Albie Sachs Visits the Valley
Appointed by then President Nelson Mandela, Justice Sachs, with a long history of social activism, contributed to the successful peaceful change of political and social direction of the Nation of South Africa.
Justice Albie Sachs kept his audience enthralled for an hour at the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park on Monday,February 15, 2010.He presented a video tour of the South African Constitutional Court building, highlighting the ways that it reflects the new South Africa. The theme that justice must be transparent and open is evident throughout the structure, down to the openwork doors to each justice’s chambers and the window that is behind the justices as they sit in court. The history of South Africa is also very much part of the structure, situated as it is on the site of the infamous Johannesburg Prison.The court has a website at www.constitutionalcourtofsouthafrica
Justice Sachs spoke eloquently about what it meant to be part of the new judicial system of the country. He shared his struggles coming to terms with and balancing “freedom rights” such as voting and speech with “social rights” such as heath care, education, and housing. Acknowledging that neither could be achieved in the most ideal way, he talked about how he sought to institute a principle of reasonableness to his decisions. He gave the audience a glimpse of the reality of living through the Truth and Reconciliation process, as he spoke about meeting face-to-face with the man who had orchestrated the bombing that nearly took Sachs’ life. The talk reached far beyond the boundaries of South Africa and touched many of the issues that each of us face every day.
The event was sponsored by
The ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
The Historical League, Inc.
Allison Quattrocchi, J.D., Family Mediation Center
The ASU School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
The Faculty of Justice and Social Inquiry at ASU
And an anonymous donor
For more information, please contact:
Peter H. Welsh, PhD
Director
Arizona Historical Society
Museum at Papago Park
1300 N. College Ave.
Tempe, AZ 85281
480-929-0292x123 (V)
480-967-5450 (Fax)
pwelsh@azhs.gov
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
