Today and tomorrow, I will have notes concerning the Oslo Freedom Forum, which took place last week. This is the annual human-rights gathering in the Norwegian capital. Today’s installment is here. I discuss varying participants and what they have to say — concerning Russia, Ukraine, China, Syria, Cuba, and other places, most of them unfortunate.

I’d like to publish some reader mail. In a recent column, I discussed the role of judges in our system and said, “For heaven’s sake, give me a justice who will judge the constitutionality of a law regardless of what he thinks of the law. Judicial functions and legislative functions are different.” A reader writes,

You reminded me of what Justice Antonin Scalia once said: “If you are going to be a good and faithful judge, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you’re not always going to like the conclusions you reach. If you like them all the time, you’re probably doing something wrong.”

One of my recent Q&A podcasts is with Akhil Reed Amar, the law professor. (The podcast is here and I wrote about it here.) A reader writes,

Hey, Jay,
I am in the midst of your podcast with Professor Amar and you mentioned Scalia’s wish for a stamp that said “Stupid but constitutional.” You wondered whether it was apocryphal — whether Scalia really did wish for such a stamp. I just wanted to let you know that I heard him say so in person.
My wife and I heard him speak at Lewis & Clark Law School, in Portland, Ore. This was a very liberal school, so there were some protests of Scalia’s appearance. He was charming and entertaining throughout. I remember his comment about “stupid but constitutional” and have used it for years when teaching the Constitution and our legal system.
Scalia was also quite moving — and utterly convincing — in explaining why he voted to overturn laws against flag burning. The day after the decision was announced, his wife greeted him at breakfast by humming “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”

I was writing about Mitch Daniels, the president of Purdue University, and the commencement address he gave last month — on the subject of individuality. A reader writes,

Your column this morning was quite a coincidence. Just last night, I re-read Daniels’s address from last year, which is about risk-taking. [I wrote about that one too, here.] I have frequently cited this speech to my sons as great early-career advice. Well, I was recently approached about moving for a new job. As it turns out, the speech is pretty good advice for middle and early-late careers as well.

My thanks to all readers and correspondents.