The U.S.Constitution is about only one concept and that's democracy, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said here yesterday.

"Read the document," Breyer said in a speech at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. "It has seven articles and 27 amendments that describe the democratic form of government."

Breyer is in Honolulu to participate in a University of Hawai'i law school program called Jurist-in-Residence. The program at UH's William S. Richardson School of Law brings in judges for law students to learn firsthand about the work of the federal courts, including the Supreme Court.

Other Supreme Court justices who have participated in the UH program are John Paul Stevens, Byron White, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Cynthia Quinn, William S. Richardson School of Law director of communications, said the justices come every two years for a week and spend time with students and the community.

The visiting justices also have an opportunity to gain insight into Hawai'i history and culture, which they may draw upon in rulings affecting the Islands. The most recent, Quinn said, was the high court's 2000 decision that said all Hawai'i voters, not just Native Hawaiians, should be able to vote in elections for state Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees.

"It's quite an honor to have Breyer here," Quinn said. "It's his first visit to Hawai'i and his first time in the Jurist-in-Residence program."

At the law school, Breyer told students that each citizen has to give back to the community in some way to make it better, or else the Constitution doesn't work.

"All of us on the court are trying to protect the effort contained in the seven articles of the Constitution and to make them real, as opposed to making them merely a Fourth of July speech," Breyer said.

Moanalua High School junior Mary Shanahan found the speech interesting. "It gave me a new perspective on the Constitution," she said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.