Supreme Court Justice Breyer talks art – in French

BOSTON – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has given a talk — entirely in French — about the artistry of courtroom sketches.

Breyer spoke in French on Monday during the hour-long forum at the French Cultural Center in Boston.

The event was a dialogue with artist Noëlle Herrenschmidt, who draws courtroom scenes in France.

Holger Spamann, a Harvard Law School professor who attended the talk, says Breyer also made a case for the professionalism of judges and the importance of their detachment from politics.

Breyer, 78, was appointed to the high court in 1994 by Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Breyer once told an interviewer that he learned French by reading the works of writer Marcel Proust while working as an intern at a law firm in Paris.