Men like Justice Stevens just don't seem to exist anymore.Women are our best hope.
15
@susan mccall
I might agree with both statements, but you don't make a convincing case.
2
Bold, determined and independent-minded is a chief characteristic of the greatest generation to which Justice John Paul Stevens belongs. Some lived even further with other evolving and holistic standards, one that U2 summaries in their recent song “13”: “Are you strong enough to be kind?”
U.S. Constitutional Framer and 3rd American President Thomas Jefferson constructed the first wall to protect The United States of America from a clear pattern of destruction in nations, countries and empires since Rome and beyond. Justice Stevens illuminated red glares on that wall again in 1995 in his dissent to Justice Scalia’s Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board opinion:
“[T]he sequence of sectarian displays disclosed by the record in this case illustrates the importance of rebuilding the ‘wall of separation between church and State’ that Jefferson envisioned.”
To family, friends, colleagues and community members of Justice Stevens, I send deep condolences. For the many of us who have read Justice Stevens and any of his counsel-inspired opinions and dissents, including others about religion, Justice Stevens remains held as sacred.
Rest In Peace, in or around the 1st protective wall.
6
Well, just to be clear, "pellucid (ly)" means clear. What "clearly clear" might mean, I am not sure. I am reasonably certain, however, that Kavanaugh is qualified, and that the charge of some sort of prejudice as regards the Federalist Society is wrong, although his appointment might not be in the best interests of the United States, but of that I am unsure. I highly value (the deceased) Judge Stevens' premium placed upon learning as an important, integral part of life experience. Juxtaposing that with changes in the status quo such as "Citizens United" is troubling, but when one considers the role played by fads in this country, such troubling thoughts are mollified, and the identification of this trend as a fad, somewhat nullifies the trouble taken to consider it in such a harsh light. True some people are malleable with money as the dominant agent; take Trump's supporters, for instance. Corporate money, however, won't exhibit such agent-like qualities as a promoter of behavior which might be termed the object of operant conditioning, or so I think.
1
“I am prepared,” the former [Republican] president [Ford] wrote, “to allow history’s judgment of my term in office to rest (if necessary, exclusively) on my nomination 30 years ago of Justice John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
A good Executive can serve a heavy dose of humility to a streak of male Executive follies.
A good Justice can “assert... a muscular brand of judicial authority” while co-serving women and men.
Thank you Linda and editors for this right to co-serve some writing with you on this day.
I find no better retort against ageism than Justice Stevens's dissenting argument against Citizens United at the age of 90. One can only hope to have as fascinating and influential existence as he did.
6
And that Citizens United will be overturned before long.
7
Justice Stevens, as he himself said, was not a liberal. He described himself as a conservative and that, in the traditional and historical sense, is what he was.
The United States Supreme Court is presently made up of five right wing ideologues and four moderates. To attempt to describe the Court in any other fashion is a gross injustice.
8
Justice Stevens was brilliant with a moral compass that was always pointing to true north. And as a University of Chicago undergraduate and Northwestern Law School alumnus, it was refreshing and important to have someone other than the Ivy League army on the high court.
10
Stevens was one of the greatest Justices in the history of our country. A man born to great wealth and privilege who was able to understand the position of the powerless and voiceless. When he attended the University of Chicago as an undergraduate, one of his closest friends was Jewish. Stevens always said that having a front-row seat for the constant anti-Semitic abuse hurled at his friend taught him empathize with the oppressed and to hate discrimination.
Of course he made mistakes. He was a human being. What made him so great, as Greenhouse points out, is that he always wanted to learn -- to do better, to understand better, to judge better. That kind of intellectual humility is one of the key attributes of a great judge. A far cry from the moralistic certitude of a Scalia, a Thomas or a Kavanaugh.
He was a giant. I do not expect to see his equal during my lifetime.
157
May all Supreme Court Justices and all Judges became enlightened and ever more compassionate like Justice Stevens. What a gift he was to our world! Blessings to his family.
8
Another great American, good ol' President Lincoln, once said: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
Justice Stevens, you passed with flying colors.
9
That's good! It was my philosophy too when passing judgment and disciplining my HS Engflsh students. It was when the student knew that I had them and there wasn't any wiggle room for them that I could apply some life teaching magnanimity.
3
Would that the present SCOTUS were blessed with 9 John Paul Stevens; the U.S. and the World would be far better off if that were the case. R.I.P. good and faithful servant!
6
He lived in Fort Lauderdale? When I was in Chicago on his birthday last year, I called a "John P Stevens" whom I found in the phone book to offer best wishes. Not surprising he didn't respond. RIP, Justice Stevens!
1
Five will get you ten that when Trump was informed of Steven's death, he said:
"Oh good! Now I get to appoint another judge to the court."
More seriously, Stevens was the sort of judge the court SHOULD be composed of.
5
And so we're left with Silent Clarence (unless there's a Coke can around), "I Love Beer " Kavanaugh, Stolen Seat Gorsuch, the rigorous, steadfast and skilled Ginsberg, Sotomayer, Breyer and Kagan, and the "which-way-is-the-wind-blowing-today" dynamic duo of Roberts and Alito. God help us all.
9
A man who did not understand he was a judge, not a politician making policy, using the extended perquisites of the former to impose unaccountable social policy on the country; a man who warped the meaning of the Constitution to meet his standards, and then called them the Constitution's; a man who, like the President who nominated him, were just too small for the offices they acquired.
It's nice to read an obituary that tells such a wonderful story, filling in details about the person in question both from a factual standpoint and from who they were, as a personality.
Linda Greenhouse did a fantastic job on a fantastic Supreme Court Justice. We will likely never see a justice as evenhanded as he again.
3
I'm not surprised that Citizens' United was the last straw for the great Associate Justice, John Paul Stevens. Everyone should read Six Amendments. It's short and he's right.
Citizens' United was one of the worst decisions in American history, and the five justices who voted on the incorrect side should hang their heads in shame.
5-4 decisions for matters of this import are horrendous. It may never happen. But, it would be better to have 10 justices, so that close decisions lead to a draw, referral back to the lower court. If the result of a very controversial decision doesn't have a 2 vote margin, aka 6 to 4, SCOTUS shouldn't make such a decision at all.
2
We are still stuck with FEC vs United, a terrible decision. Just on climate change, very wealthy oil and chemical corporations are intent on wreaking the planet for profit, while buying votes any which way they can in Red states. Corporations have limited liability, unlike everyone else, who must pay for the consequences of their (protected) wrongdoing. Corporations also have the most money, making it easy for candidates who take their money to represent them, rather than the citizens described in the Constitution who vote.
The anti-trust laws haven't been enforced since Reagan, and less so since we have had majorities put in by the corporations. Also quid pro quo contributions, which are illegal. No prosecution of AT&T recently for an obvious bribe to affect a merger, the bribe paid to Cohen-Trump.
The obituary reminds us that a capacity for humility might best describe this justice -- along with the ability to evolve, to respond with humanity, empathy and common sense while retaining a deep appreciation that the Constitution is a guiding and living document. Are these qualities lost on us in this new historical moment? We are at a loss without such a justice.
1
Justice John Paul Stevens has been an American hero and exemplar, upholding the integrity of our Constitution and embodying our desire to perfect democracy and equality.
I shall remember Justice Stevens for his opinions in Bush v. Gore, Heller and Citizens United. In these opinions, he represented the many Americans unhappy to see the Constitution interpreted in ways that we consider overly political or ideological. Justice Stevens confirmed in his dissents that Constitutional interpretation had a nobler history that we reject at our peril.
I shall also remember Justice Stevens for his book detailing suggested revisions to the Constitution, proposing common sense changes such as the elimination of gerrymandering. The changes suggested by Justice Stevens were aimed at strengthening American democracy, something that has been in scant supply in recent decisions dominated by the Court’s conservative wing.
Profound thanks to John Paul Stevens for his service to our nation. And profound thanks to the late Gerald Ford for nominating Justice Stevens to the Supreme Court.
6
There will never be another John Paul Stevens. Each person brings to the world a combination of traits that cannot be exactly duplicated, but we can hope for someone to serve on our Supreme Court who will bring the qualities of intelligence, integrity, reflection, flexibility, and depth of inquiry that we were blessed to have in Justice Stevens' service to the court.
His passing is a loss not only to his family, but to all of us who benefited from his voice on the Supreme Court.
9
What a wonderful man! A FAIR and JUST judge, who could THINK and DISCERN what was best for our nation! Wow! Amazing! I hope that Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Alito and Thomas take note! The Supreme Court should not be partisan, they should uphold, defend and protect our Constitution and Laws.
Rest in peace dear Justice Stephens, thank you for being FAIR and JUST!
27
Truly, it is fascinating. Conservatives and Republicans “evolve,” which means they go left, while the “lefties” only evolve by becoming even more lefty.
Roberts is the new “evolver.”
And the Republican politicians in robes that we have today aren't fit to clean his bathroom.
9
And now we have Kavanaugh. What a world.
6
Stevens will be missed. thank you for your enlightened service to our nation. Many blessings.
6
Two thoughts on the passing of Justice Stevens: (1) A comparison of Stevens' life and legacy to Clarence Thomas' oft-repeated proclamation, "I ain't evolving," demonstrates the difference between a great Justice and a great human being and, well, Clarence Thomas. (2) Colbert was right: truth *does* have a liberal bias.
7
My understanding is that Stevens did not like the label "liberal" so why is this obituary headline touting that aspect?
2
A great judge.. who knew that justice is blind to politics, as it should be.
I think he serves as a role model to Chief Justice Roberts, and you can see it in some of the chief justices decisions.
Clarence Thomas on the other hand has been a largely inactive justice... only rearing his head out of slumber to push conservative ideology over justice in mostly minority opinions.
I concur with Justice Stevens opinion that Kavanaugh was unworthy to sit on the highest court.
Time will tell if justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch follow in Thomas theme of ideology over justice... or if they instead step up and follow the non-partisan nature of the role of Supreme Court Justice that the founding fathers set the stage for and Justice Stevens so aptly demonstrated in his many years on the court.
It remains to be seen if Justice Gor
3
@Chuck
Do you think that Kagan, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor are blind to politics or ideology?
Perhaps they may not be blind to politics or ideology, but judiciously wise enough to try to set them aside when passing judgment in their office. They aren't working to legislate from the bench like some of their more conservative counterparts.
2
@Lilo
Yes.. I do.. based on the number of times they have sided with conservative justices on court cases both before and after seating on the Supreme Court. Further.. they have been much more honest and objective about recusing on cases where they have some prior interaction.. whereas Thomas NEVER does.
I gather you feel that because they are not conservative republicans.. they don't follow your personal ideology. Tip: the court is not about your personal political and ideological views.
Each Justice carries with them different views and ideology. All humans do. What defines them is when they can set those aside and address each case objectively. In this regard Thomas has proven himself deeply entrenched in political ideology. Gorsuch and kavanaugh.. it remains to be seen. The rest of the sitting justices demonstrate strong ability to set aside ideology and actually judge based on the specifics of each case.. even when it may be counter to their ideology.
2
Truth has a liberal bias.
Reality has a liberal bias.
Justice, applied fairly under the law, has a liberal bias.
This is why JPS "became" a liberal.
5
And education is often one of the things that leads to those "biases."
1
Remember, at Justice Stevens' confirmation hearing, all those women who came forward and testified under oath about how he took advantage of them in social settings?
Me neither.
9
Will the Trump and GOP appointees have the courage to learn from Judge Stevens or are they going to be cowards all their life?
2
When you have a SCOTUS justice like this, you are glad they have lifelong term. Unfortunately, most are not deserving of a lifelong term.
7
Ms. Greenhouse notes that Justice Stevens, in one case, "was the only justice to take the position that a Missouri statute declaring that life begins at conception not only violated the court’s abortion precedents but also was impermissible as 'an unequivocal endorsement of a religious tenet' that 'serves no identifiable secular purpose.'”
It's surprising to me that more jurists don't accept this fact, and indeed that they don't more often apply factual observations to other religion-based claims about abortion.
Maybe the day will come. As Ms. Greenhouse wrote three years ago, "In the face of spurious explanations for public policies that would foreseeably inflict real damage on identifiable groups of people, judges and justices are abandoning the traditional diffidence of the judicial role and expressing a new willingness to call out legislatures for what they are really doing, not just what they say they are doing."
2
All Justices should be treated with a reasonable amount of respect. Like all of our presidents, I expect that they do their best to interpret the Constitution according to their lights, and that includes all of them. But, the vast differences between justices's interpretations, the way they "evolve" or change (always, it seems, to become more left-leaning, e.g., Blackmun, Stevens and Souter, to a lesser degree, Roberts) should indicate that it is, or at least has become, a third political branch. As individuals, we tend to like that or not to the degree they are agreeing with our own opinions. It is beyond comic, when Senators, interviewing them, get them to say they will follow the law, when they are writing it as they go along.
1
They become left-leaning because their have a conscience.
6
“Perhaps the defining vision of Justice Stevens’s jurisprudence, indeed of his entire life project,” wrote a former law clerk, “has been an unshakable faith in the capacity of men and women of the law to resolve difficult and contentious issues through the application of reason tempered by experience and humility.”
We can and should learn from these words. I respect Justice Stevens for his judicial opinions, and for his influence in preserving the integrity of the Constitution and the separation of powers of the three branches of government.
7
In Linda's erudite and discerning tribute to this supreme jurist, there is a detail that gives astonishment to how far and quickly we have traveled down the right-wing rabbit hole: at Justice Stevens 1975 confirmation hearing, there was not a single question asked about abortion.
7
This man was everything a supreme court justice should be, from an era where character and service mattered. I am inspired by his example, and cherish his jurisprudence of compassion, logic, and common sense. I only wish there were more of him on the court, instead of Federalist society bots.
65
Beautiful!
3
I’m not surprised that Justice Stevens morphed from a Republican antitrust lawyer into the so called leader of the Court’s “liberal” wing. He was a man of deep conviction and a belief in the rule of law. As the Republican Party decided that it was “right that made might but rather might (money) that made might,” he had no choice. He saw what was happening. He didn’t go “left” rather the Republicans went right and decided that the rule of law was unhelpful to their big donors. The Republican party’s rejection of the basic ideals that formed the foundation of our Republic has given us Trump and a kleptocracy that shames us all. John Paul Stevens was a man of principle. Such men and women are in very limited supply.
God speed.
9
Just another activist on the court. He pales when compared to Scalia.
@M Scalia was a burn the Country down sort of man. He could write well and laugh heartily but under all of that was a glowing hatred of women and the other. He used his intellect not to help or heal but to bludgeon those who were not like him.
Stevens was a giant!
6
The article is the exhibit A of the fact that "due process" does not exist and that judging is purely arbitrary, judges acting as parties to the case favoring their own views instead of impartially evaluating parties' argument as images of Lady Justice would make us believe they do.
I learned this first-hand in my own litigation against the government, in which one judge got an impulse to act as government's lawyer and invented, right in the decision, thoroughly bogus argument on behalf of the government, and another judge decided to replace my lawyer's argument with a non-argument of his own, so as to decided against us. When I sued judges for fraud, I was told by DA's office that defended them that judges gave themselves, in Pierson v. Ray, the right to act from the bench "maliciously and corruptly." I turned to the press with this incredible, Pulitzer-class finding -- yet my astonishment, the press does not want to talk about the fact that a 1/3 of US government -- its judiciary -- is officially "corrupt and malicious."
This article is yet another testimony to the absence of "due process" from the "judicial process," to the fact that federal courts are kangaroo courts -- and to the blindness of our press to this simple fact...
I’ve looked in vain for a report of flags being ordered flown at half-mast for a Justice of 34 years, a decorated WWII veteran, and an indisputable defender of the flag itself (whether one agreed with him or not on how best to defend it). Nonetheless, think of him, his commitment to justice, and his decency when you see the flag today.
7
Amen!
2
@MEvans. Well, the White House website shows this has now been properly addressed, thankfully.
You say it was “improbable” that a Republican appointment would go on to become a liberal on the court. Really? Here’s a short list of similar appointments: Brennan, Kennedy, Souter and Earl Warren. All fine Republicans of conscience, not blinded by partisanship as Democrats like to argue. Even Roberts saved Obamacare with an “improbable” vote.
2
Some who are appointed to the SCOTUS use their brains, others like Thomas, are party shills!
5
If only he could be here now on the Court
2
The religious Federalist society wing of the present-day court are not real conservatives they're radicals on the right who base their views on make believe instead of precedent. Judge Stevens was a conservative in the true sense of the word and a centrist in a country where the majority is center left. RIP.
3
It's not so much that Stevens was liberal, it's that the Constitution is liberal. It takes a great deal of dishonesty to pervert its meaning, reducing it to an endorsement of unrestricted weaponry in the hands of civilians, and a set of guiding principles for authoritarianism and theocracy.
5
One of the last justices nominated for his legal acumen rather than his political views. Most of the ones coming in recent years, like Bork, indicated, with a nod and a wink, they wouldn't legislate from the bench and we know how that worked out.
2
I encountered justice Stevens at an ABA convention where he spoke eloquently and passionately about a group of Jehovah's witnesses who refused to say the pledge of allegiance. They were threatened by the super patriots (the ones we are so familiar with today), and he celebrated the Court's decision to maintain their ability to dissent and keep their religious freedom. While he kept a barrier between religion and government he also placed value on our government's protection of religious free speech. He had a humility that welcomed the possibility that he could be wrong, a
nd he refused to carry out a partisan agenda hidden in his judgments. He is sorely missed.
7
A great, modest, decent human being who made a positive difference. If only we could go back to the tradition of non-political justices. The current GOP justices have tarnished the Supreme Court with decisions like Heller, Bush vs. Gore, Citizen's United and now the Gerrymandering case.
8
@Kathryn Aguilar
And you don't think the blatantly opinionated progressive Justice Ginsburg hasn't tarnished the appearance of "objectivity"? She often sounds like she's an MSNBC host.
3
@AACNY. You clearly know nothing of the law or the Constitution. Justice Ginsberg is passionate int the support and protection of both!
2
The last good nominee by a Republican, 35 years ago.
RIP, Justice Stevens.
2
As a fitting tribute to Justice Stevens, we should all read his "Six Amendments" book and then implement those changes.
2
Justice Stevens is everything a justice should be: A champion of personal liberties, brilliant mind, a respect for people, and last but certainly not least, a sense of humor.
I recently watched a special on Prohibition on PBS, and Justice Stevens was giving a few anecdotes on his childhood growing up in Chicago, cracking up as he spoke. It had me laughing.
56
@John
Funny though, you didn't say anything about reading the words of the constitution and applying them as written.
1
@James. The current crop of Republican justice wouldn't know the Constitution if it bit them. They use “it” as a shield to hide their politics driven agenda against women, the power and humans in order to protect corporations and the powerful!
10
Supposedly at the request of Nixon, Ford, as House Republican leader, advocated hard for the impeachment of Douglas, but was unsuccessful. Then, when Douglas retired, Ford appointed Stevens. Douglas tended to write large, and Stevens wrote somewhat smaller and more carefully. But Stevens proved to be a progressive jurist, even by Warren Court stds.
So, what is the explanation? Was Ford surprised like ike was with Warren or HW was with Souter? Did Stevens (quickly) evolve on the Court? Was Ford just doing Nixon's bidding for political gain, not necessarily believing Douglas was unfit?
Yrs later, I saw Ford speak about a number of things, incl Douglas. Ford was still animated about Douglas, so I don't think Nixon had much urging to do. Maybe each Justice surprised the president who appointed him, but maybe Warren, Stevens, and Souter reveal something about the values or at least inner workings of these three presidents
The distinction of "Liberal" vs "Conservative" judges is plain wrong.
Throughout history the proper distinction should be between politicians who masquerade as judges and make decisions based on their politics and ideology, and, real judges who found their decisions on the Constitution and the Law.
Justice Stevens was a true Judge who founded his decisions on the Law and Constitutions. This distinguishes him from the current five right wing highly, highly, highly partisan REpublican politicians masquerading as judges who base their decisions on their party and ideology.
Dred Scott v Sanford; Plessy v Ferguson; Shelby County v Holder; and, Lochner v New York were political decisions; Brown v Board of Education was a judicial decision written by a real Judge, Earl Warren, even though he had been an elected Republican governor.
2
Attorneys like Justice John Paul Stevens are the reason I’ve always wanted to become a lawyer. They are the reason I believe that this system of government can work, despite its many flaws and the differences that have always existed across America. When I read his legal opinions (and those of other Supreme Court justices) in law school, even if I didn’t always agree with the outcome the Court reached on a personal level, from a legal standpoint, their reasoning was always rock solid. Every day this country ignores the basic foundational principles on which it was founded is another day we disrespect men like Justice Stevens, a man that devoted his entire life to ensure America remained true to the core tenants and principles of our democracy.
7
What a fascinating life!
I find the fact that a great influence on Justice Steves to be an interesting and refreshing counterpoint to the "Constitutionalists" like Justice Scalia and his ilk--
'Justice Rutledge viewed himself as an old-fashioned “common law” judge'
&
'Justice Rutledge had “great faith in wisdom born of experience and mistrusted untried statements of general principles” '
That common sense wisdom combined with respect for standing law that Justice Rutledge passed on to Justice Stevens is now lost in the blather and bias that is now our Supreme Court.
2
Rest in Peace, Justice Stevens; We will always remember your qualities of honesty, compassion, erudition, humanity. An example for all of us and for the future.
Bonus: Please watch the Colbert interview with the retired Justice Stevens - Insightful, touching, hilarious!
2
Liberal means trusting in the collective wisdom of people. Conservative means not trusting that the people can handle changing attitudes and new ways of looking at how law can be applied to solve newly minted societal issues.
4
The opening line of the article suggests that he moved left in his beliefs on decisions. Seems to me the country has hurled itself right and he just may of had strong moral compass and the common sense and clarity of compassion to push against the retrograde slide to present day.
7
A liberal Republican. Whatever happened to those guys?
7
From this past Sunday's NYT Book Review by Emily Bazelon: "The Making of a Justice" by John Paul Stevens
"He was the last of a group of Republican appointees (Earl Warren, William Brennan, Harry Blackmun, David Souter and, to a degree, Sandra Day O’Connor) who breathed compassion into the law and put the impact of their decisions on real people above arid theories."
Rest in Peace, Justice Stevens.
269
I heard a commenter on NPR this morning stating that Justice Stevens had a deep respect for the law, but in the same breath noted that his opinions on affirmative action and the death penalty changed over time.
If the law doesn't change, but your position does, how is that respect for the law? It seems that Stevens' respect for the law was based on however he interpreted the "law" at that particular time. If the law is subject to a judge's changing opinion, there is no law at all.
7
@J. Waddell Because laws are a reflection of society, and society does, in fact, change over time. By your logic, Black Americans should still only be counted as 3/5 of a person, because laws are immutable and can never be changed.
15
@J. Waddell
To admit that his positions changed over time is not to show disrespect for the law but to admit to what he thought were earlier errors on his part.
"Education is the progressive discovery of our ignorance."
Will Durant.
10
@J. Waddell
If the law was as plain and un-interpretable as you seem to think it is, we wouldn't have a court system.
Interpreting how laws apply to particular cases is an integral part of the act of judging.
7
Wow, Ford nominated him just before an election year and he got a hearing in the Senate? Amazing.
29
@Richard
Rumor has it, Senate Majority Leaders even had ethics back then....
4
Ms. Greenhouse skips over what to me is one of Justice Stevens' most eloquent dissents, "...the homosexual and the heterosexual have the same interest in deciding how he will live his own life, and, more narrowly, how he will conduct himself in his personal and voluntary associations with his companions.”
— Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) (Stevens, J., dissenting).
As a college student in 1986, just coming to terms with the fact that the focus of my sexual desires did not conform to society's expectations, I read Justice Steven's dissent to Bowers with tears in my eyes, realizing that there was at least one man on the Supreme Court not blinded by religion and tradition and unfounded animus toward me. Stevens' dissent, for me, dulled the blow that heinous decision dealt to the civil rights of lesbians and gay men. 29 years later, Stevens view was upheld in Obergerfell and Bowers was reversed for all practical purposes.
And it seems improper to exclude Justice Stevens' opinion of his colleagues' decision in Bush v. Gore, as he spoke for half the nation when he said in 2005, “I remain of the view that the Court has not fully recovered from the damage it inflicted on itself in Bush v. Gore,”
126
@Julian Fernandez
To correct my error, Bowers was, of course, reversed by Lawrence v. Texas in June 2003.
RIP Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, you were a fine justice.
11
Interesting to read that when Stevens commented that Kavanaugh is a good judge, the righteous pounced and Stevens thereafter (self?)-censored. He was a great man and a distinguished jurist.
2
Stevens was not a liberal. He was a centrist conservative. He bristled when called liberal. I wish we had more justice like Stevens.
Stevens never drifted to the left. The court has become another political tool of the Republicans. Right wing so-called “think tanks” develop lists of ideological political judges that Republicans must appoint.
The courts are broken.
The Supreme Court is supremely broken.
25
Sadness. An actual justice who believed in the law and was one of the last nominated as a legal scholar rather than ideology.
21
He was one of the great justices in history, for being humane and logical for those times. Logic and humanity have evaded us, thereafter.
12
Remember that we’re it not for Ralph Nader, Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein, we would be in our 27th consecutive year of Democratic presidents and there would be 8 Democratic nominees on the United States Supreme Court.
Do not ever forget that. The damage that small minority of people have wrought on this country is incalculable.
26
@Mike That's not necessarily true. I accept that Nader gave us Bush instead of Gore, but there's no guarantee that if Gore had won in 2000 (and assume 2004 also), that Obama would have still been elected in 2008. 16 consecutive years of a Democrat in the White House may have driven more people to John McCain than went his way.
You can definitely say that Nader gave us Bush, and Sanders and Stein gave us Trump, but it's not accurate to say that everything else would have gone exactly the same without those actions.
9
@Mike Are you in favor of abolishing the electoral college? Without it, the elections you're referencing would have gone Democrat.
3
Mike, I disagree. A vote of conscience should never be disparaged. What you want, blind loyalty to Party ideology, stifles new ideas, independent thinking, creativity. You have only to look at the lockstep, toadying of the Republican leaders to see where the real damage comes from.
In this article, it is mentioned that Justice Stevens considered multiple Constitutional Amendments. Yet fear of suggesting we need a Constitutional Convention, an updating of our sadly outdated guiding document, keeps new ideas, new discussions of Amendments....non-discussable. Damage might be done. Well, learning, growing, advancing, might be done, too.
2
He will certainly be missed, having injected a lot of common sense into the Court. As an example, Stevens recently had a great suggestion to clarify the original meaning of "well regulated militia" in the second amendment: He said: ”That anomalous result can be avoided by adding five words to the text of the Second Amendment to make it unambiguously conform to the original intent of its draftsmen. As so amended, it would read:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the Militia shall not be infringed.”
13
To quote from your own paper's Book Review:
Which novels have had the most impact on you as a writer? Is there a particular book that made you want to write?
Stevens: I don’t know what novels may have motivated any of my writing, but the teacher to whom I am most indebted was Norman Maclean, who taught the course in poetry at the University of Chicago.
No wonder he wrote so well.
17
He supported in "Kelo" reckless expansion of the right to seize personal property, by both private and public interests. Not a good look.
Jimmy Carter is 94. Ruth Bader Ginsberg is 86.
1
Kelo, whether you agree with it or not, was squarely in line with supreme court precedents going back to at least 1954.
Stevens dissent in Citizens United is one of the greatest in the history of the Court, right up there with Harlan’s in Plessy.
Harlan’s dissent provided the legal architecture for Brown v. Board some 50 years on when the Court finally recognized the equal protection applies to all of us, not just white folks, and rid the nation of the cancer on our democracy of “separate but equal.”
Similarly Stevens’ dissent in Citizens, which chapter and verse examines the utter jurisprudential and intellectual dishonesty in the Citizens majority opinion, will form the architecture for overruling it some 50 years on perhaps, and ridding the nation of the cancer on our democracy of unlimited dark money disinformation campaigns, if we still have a democracy.
50
@winthropo muchacho. I hope we don’t have to wait 50 years because there may be no Country left by then.
2
Justice Stevens was a persuasive & strategic thinker as well as a conservative Republican who exemplifies how the Overton Window has shifted far right. A legal giant who is sorely missed.
12
The fact that Steven defended individual liberty to the horror of Big Business on one day, and then reined in the police on another day still remains confusing to major elements of both our political parties. Conservatives were supposed to believe that federal power existed primarily to enable States to run their economies as they saw fit, while the flimsy individual rights listed in the Constitution had no applicability to States.
He understood that industrialized America was a never-ending battle between the Yin of government tyranny and the Yang of business tyranny at both the State and Federal Levels. Both American political parties still bulge into extreme unbalance, all the time, rendering the words "conservative" and "liberal" almost meaningless.
11
Justice Stevens was the best of the best, doing yeoman duty as the country drifted right , thanks to Reagan. I especially enjoyed reading that he felt differing views should be expressed and explained, rather than straining for “ surface collegiality”. This is an important lesson for today’s times, with the emergence of diverse views within the Democratic Party.
22
As i learn more about his exemplary life and court ruling's, the one that stands out to me is his insistence on a high unbreachable wall between church and state. It is despicable that the Republican party has breached it and of course divided us! We are not a Christian nation. We are a secular one.Founding America was the way to be done with among other things, religious intolerance in England. This situation stinks of hypocrisy. Thank you Justice Stevens. We hope to continue to add to your legacy of fair mindedness and adherence to the idea of a living Constitution.
27
I will always remember Mr. Stevens for his courage after he retired from the Supreme Court when he stood up for due process in the Kavanaugh hearings.
My father, father-in-law, and son were all accused of crimes they didn't commit. The struggle to keep my father out of jail took such a toll on us financially and emotionally that we were never the same again. Other than Mr. Stevens, the entire liberal lynch mob, chose to destroy a man based on an accusation for which there was not a single piece of evidence. Whether it was true or not, whether you believe "the victim" or not, this country has to support due process. Just ask Emmitt Till.
If you are under oath you can be charged with perjury therefore you are also entitled to the protection of due process. They don't teach due process at Harvard Law School?
In the entire sordid mess nothing was more disappointing than our nation's lawyers dispensing with due process because they didn't like a man's abortion position or because they didn't agree with Garland not getting a hearing. There was no cross-examination of a victim whose testimony was full of conflicts of interest and perjury, there was no respect for the rules of juvenile justice, only a lynch mob and very few brave people were willing to stand up to it. Collins and Stevens were two of them. Stevens being a liberal showed true courage.
A man was destroyed not because of an accusation of what he did when he was 17 but because you didn't agree with him. Shame.
5
@jkemp That's not actually how Due Process works, but nice try; you are not automatically entitled to due process just because you are in a position where lying would be considered perjury.
Judge Kavanaugh was denied Due Process because he was never actually charged with a crime, and thus never actually entitled to due process in the first place. If he wanted to face criminal charges based on his predatory rapist behavior in college, then the prosecution would absolutely have to meet the burden of proof and respect his rights to due process throughout the case. But since he ensured that he would never face criminal prosecution for those actions, we'll never know.
The evidence that he did all those things is indisputable. Even if you say "Ok, forcing your junk into a woman's face at a party is totally fine, we've all done that sometime", I do not understand how you can justify his temper tantrums and lack of self control during the hearings.
He was not an innocent man being arbitrarily accused of a crime. He was a guilty man who had been called to account for his actions for the first time in his life, and he did not like the sensation.
All you people whining about how his "life was destroyed" are beyond ridiculous. He's going to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States until the day he drops dead. How is that having a "destroyed" life in any sense of the word? You snowflakes really need to grow thicker skin.
5
What a national treasure about whom I knew so little. I had no idea, for example, that Justice Stevens decided to retire after Citizens United, surely one of America's very worst, most undemocratic supreme court rulings.
I am surprised by my feelings of sadness both for him and for our whole country which has strayed so far from Steven's principled nobility.
27
A beautiful man who lived a life of honor and respect. Judge Stevens served his country with dignity. He earned the nation’s gratitude.
24
Oh, to have someone like Justice Stevens back. I'm sure he didn't think much of the Court today, Or the horrendous trump administration.
He was at Wrigley when Babe Ruth called his shot in 1932. What a life!
22
As a child of the Midwest, I recognize Justice Stevens' Republicanism as that of the town and state where I spent my youth. It is not the radical, scorched earth, tribal Republicanism of today, but a pragmatic, reasonable and conservative viewpoint that is desperately needed in our national discourse.
It does not surprise me that Gerald Ford was the President that appointed him as they were cut from similar cloth. They had the temperament of the Midwest and of the Republican Party before it was hijacked by the radical right.
42
Ladies and Gentlemen, please stand -- the last honorable Republican of integrity and erudition just passed.
27
We have lost a great voice for the people
12
Surely a model jurist as illustrated by his confirmation to the Supreme Court without a single dissenting vote.
His observation on the corrosive impact of Bush v. Gore certainly was prescient:”...the court’s action ’can only lend credence to the most cynical appraisal of the work of judges throughout the land.’”
In light of today’s vitriolic atmosphere of crass partisanship there is some comfort in reading about a public servant who throughout his life exhibited probity and intellect — qualities sadly missing in several branches of government now.
Thank you for the many ways you served you country, Justice Stevens!
________________
Also, thank you, Linda Greenhouse, for such a comprehensive and literate obituary/biography!
27
A legend. One of the last real lawyers to serve on the kangaroo court, which is bound to get worse and worse if the federalist society--an extremist organization plain and simple--gets to hand pick any additional crackpots.
16
History books will write that Justice John Paul Stevens served on the Supreme Court with distinction.
History books will also remember that Justice Stevens was quoted, during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, that Mr. Brett M. Kavanaugh was not qualified to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Requiescat in pace, Justice Stevens. You are sorely missed.
15
John Paul Stevens was a codebreaker during WW2 as a young man, and he was a codebreaker on the Supreme Court when he was old.
He started out as a consensus-building moderate, but as an already conservative court radicalized, he became a counter-weight. For all his well-crafted majority opinions, his dissents in Citizens United, PICS v. Seattle Schools, DC v. Heller, Bush v. Gore and many others may be his greatest legacy. They were equal to the times.
Whenever an arch-conservative court departed from precedent he was there to calmly point out how. When they conveniently narrowed the scope of the question he explained what was missing in precise detail. Whether they left out context, jumped to conclusions, or strained the bounds of reason, you could count on him to expose it in the clearest way possible. He wrote his opinions himself and he was an outstanding, ruthlessly logical writer.
When he was in Congress, Gerald Ford tried and failed to impeach the great civil libertarian William Douglas. Later, Pres. Ford got to appoint Stevens to fill the vacancy when Douglas retired. Stevens went on to gradually establish himself as another one of the great civil libertarians in Supreme Court history.
But it was less that Stevens changed, and more that our government changed for the worse around him. He was always the same thoughtful and reasonable judge, and he appropriately sounded the alarm louder and louder as things devolved. We will not see Republicans like him again.
19
@Bluelotus Let's hope that we do as it is necessary to save our democracy, we can hope for enlightenment.
My favorite Justice over all those decades. He vouched for Brett Kavanaugh but was very upset with him when he made all those crass political statements during his confirmation hearing. I wonder if Brett Kavanaugh can live up to Steven's endorsement - if he has any decency, he will.
We lost a great one America.
7
"...the court’s highest substantive goal was to “protect individual dignity,” as reflected in his approach to equal protection."
Uplifting words and thoughts in the depths of the reign of the current occupant of the Oval Office. I suspect that Justice Stevens found that "highest goal" in the foundational document of our country, the Declaration of Independence. It is beyond sad that many of our current crop of Federal Legislators have obviously struck the phrase "individual dignity" from their vocabulary and forgotten, if they ever learned, the Golden Rule.
7
What a loss. The last paragraph summed up who he was as a human being:
"Justice Stevens was known around the court for treating others with sensitivity and respect. One former law clerk, Christopher L. Eisgruber, described in a 1993 essay an incident at a party for new clerks: Before Justice Stevens arrived, an older male justice had instructed one of the few female clerks present to serve coffee. When Justice Stevens entered, he quickly grasped the situation, walked up to the young woman and said: “Thank you for taking your turn with the coffee. I think it’s my turn now.” He took over the job."
250
Sidenote: Christopher L. Eisgruber, Justice Stevens’ former law clerk, is now president of Princeton University.
6
A great justice, and even though he started out 'conservative' or so he was described, and ended up liberal according to pundits again, he was ever faithful to the law.
I think the great lesson of Justice Stevens career is exactly what he himself said, and I am paraphrasing:
He said he was still the same person and had the same view and approach to the law, but the political parties and their agendas had changed.
Not to say he did no grow on the bench. He certainly did always seeking the real impact of the cases before him, and willing to admit he made mistakes.
There is definitely something to be said for constancy of approach and values, and of true sense of equal protection and justice under the law, as opposed to ideology and power consolidation.
Justice Stevens understood these things and has been missed since the moment he left. A giant, like Thurgood Marshall.
14
So very sad to hear of Justice Stevens passing. He was a favorite justice of mine, and even in retirement, his comments on various decisions by his former colleagues delighted me because they were so astute and on point. It's good to know aha he enjoyed his years after his service.
Now rest in peace, Justice Stevens, and know that you have legions of fans who remembers your legacy of common sense and kindness you leave with us. Thank you.
6
Stevens's retirement confirmed the transformation of the Republican Party. A century and a half earlier, another Illinois Republican brought a heightened sense of moral purpose and a larger sense of humanity to the White House. In his own way, Stevens brought a similar vision to Supreme Court. Both Lincoln and Stevens left a Republican legacy, but their Republican contemporaries and heirs were inclined to squander that legacy.
15
As far as this American Experiment with Democracy is concerned, this Third Branch of Government, was ALWAYS our Best-Hope of attaining any JUSTICE.
This Great man who may have started out on the RIGHT, ended up FIRMLY entrenched with the LEFT.
Thank you Justice Stevens, for all the GOOD that you have done.
R.I.P.
3
I was glad to see him on 60 Minutes not long ago. The US Congress has been collecting $174k each and doing almost zero work! Members of Congress should work with states on his TO-DO LIST -- on Constitutional Amendments to regulate firearms, limit campaign contributions, ban capital punishment and prohibit election-district gerrymandering to give one party an advantage. I like what a former law clerk said about him: “Perhaps the defining vision of Justice Stevens’s jurisprudence, indeed of his entire life project has been an unshakable faith in the capacity of men and women of the law to resolve difficult and contentious issues through the application of reason tempered by experience and humility.”
12
Justice John Paul Stevens
Was never considered odd
He was always even
Even though he beat the odds
And lived till ninety nine
It wasn’t meant to be
That he should live a century
Think about it and you’ll see
Justice Stevens ran the liberal wing
Of the Supreme Court for many years
I will not be shedding many tears
For a man who lived a good life
I’d send condolences to his wife
But I’m pretty sure she died before
John Paul Stevens, a giant of the law
I would hope he wouldn’t mind
To say I would like to find
Someone as refined as Justice Stevens
Holy cow! And how! We need someone
Like him now to help guide
Our ship of state but now
It’s a little too late
The late, great John Paul Stevens
Has died
The funeral? The details of it
Will surely be in his obit
4
Our nation -- and the Supreme Court -- sorely needs man or woman like John Paul Stevens...
INSTEAD, we have Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas!
Thanks, Republicans!
27
Dare I say, handsome! And a snazzy dresser! AND brilliant! Wow.
15
A good and decent man whose decency emanating from all he did-- especially his decisions that never forgot the real people behind abstract legal wrangling -- and of liberty -- more precious and transcendent than fleeting rudimentary rules.
A beacon of light.
122
"The memory of the just survives in heaven." William Wordsworth
22
UCSB, 1977. Simulated supreme court class. I WAS John Paul Stevens. Though even with youthful hubris I knew I could never attain his towering intellect. Best quality he shared with america: flexibility, personal growth. We are not meant to be in a Scalia/Roberts vacuum.
17
@karen Same @ Oregon. Difficult finding information on Justice Stevens at the time. Professor James Klonoski ran the class 'Supreme Court in American.' Brewer v. Williams was the case. I was most likely completely wrong in guessing what he would do. Nix v. Williams showcased the drift to the right the Court had begun anyway. Justice Stevens during his life NEVER disappointed me. I feel sorry today for the kids who have to role play Clarence Thomas or the like. If it were me, I'd rather drop the class than aim so low. RIP Justice Stevens.
Beautiful obituary of a beautiful human being.
One of the photos just reminded me that Trump managed to degrade, among other things, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by awarding it to that charlatan "economist" Laffer.
17
@JB
You have to be reminded of what he has degraded? Every day, every hour, every minute I am reminded.
16
Until I stumbled upon this brilliant article, I hadn't heard of Justice Stevens. What a loss in these perilous times as the narcissistic man/boy rampages around dismantling all the very best that America and this wonderful man has represented.
Vale John Stevens. heartfelt congratulations to you for such a an indescribably full and exemplary life which will hopefully inspire those left behind and generations to come.
14
@Andrew
how could you never have heard of him!!!!!!!!!!!!! especially after he retired with the dissent of citizens united that corporations are people!!!!!!!!!!! he didn't like the way the court was headed. that is why he did retire.
he was a great mind one of the best. especially legally. it shows how much people in this country need to read especially about our history in our country.
1
@jennifer t. schultz..uuuummm, I live in Australia...
2
Our Nation has lost a great patriot.
16
A good and decent man whose decency emanated from all that he did -- especially his decisions that never forgot the real people behind abstract legal wrangling -- and of liberty -- more precious and transcendent than fleeting rudimentary rules.
A beacon of light.
18
We have now, without question, witnessed the end of an era, one in which judges acted from a place of fidelity to the law and not to political parties.
John Paul Stevens was not an ideologue. He was, instead, a man who followed the law where it took him, a judge who understood the historic roots of the law, and a lawyer who recognized that the law is useful only to the extent that it facilitates a civil and functional society based on liberty and compassion.
He was the last of the Burger Court, the last of a long list of judges who graced the Supreme Court before the hyper-partisan era we now face began when Ronald Reagan was elected.
Justice Stevens will be missed. I hope the Supreme Court gives him the honor he deserves and that a state funeral is forthcoming.
44
Justice Stevens was from another era, one when federal judges were chosen for wisdom, common sense, scholarship, and temperament, not for their faithfulness to a particular theory or political approach. That's why justices evolved over time, which isn't something you see a lot of these days. They didn't come to the court with an ax to grind, and their nominations didn't have to be submitted to any of the various partisan think tanks for approval.
47
Tears from heaven . . . and below . . . to a life well-lived. A Republican that didn't end up to be one . . . a monumental intellect and a compassionate heart. We will never see his kind again, nor will we ever see current Republicans display any of his attributes.
10
Justice Stevens was a Republican but had the good sense to state that Bret Kavanaugh was not fit for being on the Supreme Court.
35
Justice Stevens was a Republican touched by humanity and intellect. The party swirled into a moralistic morass starting in 1980 and has increasingly lost its compass since, to the point JP Stevens could be characterized as a liberal in your headline. He was, instead, one of the strongest examples we will ever see of compassionate, thoughtful conservatism in action.
His consistent gift to us in a lifetime of jurisprudence was an overriding respect for the individual over the state, the corporation, and the social tides. He had a purer understanding of the Founding Fathers' intent to protect real freedom for persons through being a bulwark to governmental overreach, than anyone sitting now, and most of his contemporaries.
Remember the lone protestor staring down the tanks in Tiannamen Square? JP Stevens' entire career was to be that guy, bravely withstanding powerful ambitions with the force of intelligence and humanity. Thank you, Tank Man of SCOTUS. I hope someday to see your like again.
38
@bbbabs.
Thank you for reminding us in these aberrant times (wherein the conservative party has lost all moral standing) that indeed there was a period in American politics where men of great patriotic fervor and spirit, moral fortitude, sound intellect, and elemental human decency did in fact inhabit the conservative arenas of our governance.
T’is a great pity that this man takes his bow at such an appalling moment of unforgivable chicanery, and the entrenched criminal cronyism that has overtaken his once grand old party.
By contrast, the nefarious men who inhabit today’s “conservative” movement and its despotic orders, should look to this example if indeed making America “great again” is truly what they aspire toward; instead of this depraved moral vacuum they so willingly conspire and connive for, wholly uninterested in the once higher order of the learned, respectable and elementally decent representatives of a party now gone so far astray from its dignity and its honest desire (though through a different lens) to contribute, not degrade and destroy, to the beautiful fabric of our republic.
Yes, how sad it is to know there once existed a more elegant period in America politics that operated on sound principles, not enabling criminals or excusing bigots.
There were always extremes in the party, but never had they marched lockstep as they do now in service of their malformed narcissistic impulse to commit any travesty imaginable to achieve their evil ends. RIP!
14
I honestly did not know (or could have even guessed) that Justice Stevens was a republican. A great man and someone who would republicans of today to absolute shame. He was someone who knew that the Supreme Court is meant to be an institution of fairness and not another political arm of the ruling party. We have some dark days ahead with our ultraconservative and political court.
You will be missed dearly.
14
@Pal
I think that president ford was surprised at his liberal leaning. especially with the death penalty .
What a wonderful obituary by Linda Greenhouse, always a delight to read. I was lucky enough to interview this giant for a project on Guantanamo (at Columbia University where I work). He was able to put me and my co-interviewer at ease by starting with a few stories on how most people - just looking at him - had no idea who he was because he avoided celebrity at all costs. One day, he said he was making his way up the Supreme Court steps and some irritated tourists said, 'we are having a hard time getting directions. Can you help us? We would really love to have a glimpse of one of the justices but we doubt that will happen!' Sure thing, he said, as he walked them up the steps. In his frequent trips between Washington and Florida, someone who sat next to him said, 'do you realize you look a lot like John Paul Stevens'?
No one has ever said that before, he replied.
It was hard to get him to talk about the cases he had won/the opinions he was proud of. But, he said, I can tell you about the dissent I am proudest of - Citizens United!
29
Thank you Justice Stevens for your service . Wisdom, compassion, and humility- we can only hope for these qualities in our future.
24
A life well led.
17
RIP Justice Stevens, one of the greatest figures to ever sit on the Court. His career is enough to give hope to us all that a justice may change his mind over time and may come to value individual rights, the fourteenth ammendmant, control of the too prominent role of money in politics, racial and gender balance and justice, and the fair application of the law to all citizens and not feel him/herself to be beholden to whoever appointed them. What an admirable man!
136
They don’t make them like that anymore. Rest In Peace Sir.
20
Low-key Republican from Chicago. Former Republican antitrust lawyer. Republicans, today, take note.
27
Everyday, we're losing someone from the greatest generation. Justice Stevens was among the greatest indeed.
20
Mr. Stevens’ death is another reminder of a more reasoned time, a time when brilliant men were put onto the highest court and allowed to evolve in their opinions. Now, any nominee will be young with a sparse record, and all Republican nominees will have been lobotomized by the Federalist society so as to ensure their obeisance to the conservative cause.
65
A fine individual and great justice. Delighted when President Ford nominated somebody not trained at Harvard or Yale law school. We have so many more excellent law schools in this country, including Justice Stevens' University of Chicago, as well as Iowa, Berkeley, Virginia, just to name a few.
17
@tencato
Stevens graduated from Northwestern Law School. His undergraduate degree was from the University of Chicago. Your point, however, is well taken.
12
There really was a time when the President would meet with a man based on the recommendation of his cabinet (not a list provided by a bought-and-paid-for "think tank"), talk to him generally and rather than administer ideological purity tests, nominate him, and reasonably expect to get unanimous approval from the Senate.
It wasn't some fairy tale.
We don't have to accept the way things are now.
74
John Paul Stevens RIP.
What a difference from today, with those disgraceful SC judges! How is that possible we have gone so low? How is possible we have a Thomas, an Alito and worse still, a Gorsuch and a Kavanaugh.
46
Justice Stevens,
I will fight every day to protect the rule of law
in the America we love so dearly.
Rest In Peace your Honor, we got this.
58
@New World. That was a simple, touching, thing of beauty you just wrote here.
14
Stevens was approved by the Senate 98-0. Partisan politics (and yes, there was plenty of that even then) was set aside to bring this exemplary man to the Supreme Court.
That was America at its best. Look what we have now: a nation so riven by party division that our government is non-functional
98
A very long and impressive obituary written by Linda Greenhouse. I don’t have a legal background, but I read the whole thing and now I feel I need to attend law school.
Stevens turned out to be a very worthy successor to William Orville Douglas. One interesting fact about Gerald Ford is that in 1970, as a member of Congress and House Minority Leader, he had actually called for the impeachment of Justice Douglas. Five years later in 1975, having improbably become president due to Watergate, Ford got the chance to nominate the successor to Douglas on the court. Rather than viewing the situation as a chance to get revenge or something like that, Ford nominated a middle of the road person in Stevens.
And unlike Dwight Eisenhower, who publicly and bitterly regretted nominating Earl Warren and William J. Brennan to the court because they turned out to be almost revolutionary in their judgements, Ford to his credit never expressed regret about nominating Stevens. On the contrary, Ford seemed quite proud of the selection.
And one more thing: Stevens never came to view himself as infallible even as his reputation rose, and so he had the good sense to call it quits in 2010. He was in good health, but he was already 90 and probably saw that the Democrats would get hammered in that year’s mid-term elections. When you’re 90, on the court, and hoping to be succeeded by somebody who’s not a Federalist Society lackey, just step down if the Democrats control the Senate and Presidency.
49
They just don't make them like Justice Stevens any more.
32
Here's hoping that the we can return to the open minded, rule of law standards Justice Stevens stood for. Rest in peace, good man.
31
I wish we still had Justice Stevens on the court. Compared to him, the current Republican SCOTUS team seems so small....
16
@sfdphd
small? current conservatives are in the majority on the court.
"Liberal champion of the Supreme Court" appointed by GERALD FORD! Think about THAT! Justice Stevens was indeed a man of integrity and great intelligence. What a pity that he didn't live to see the direction of the Court SECURELY proceeding in the direction that he wanted it to. Heaven rest his soul.
16
Seriously? No, the court IS NOT headed in a direction JPS would approve. Far from it. JPS defended Gay Rights, Rose v. Wade, and Affirmative Action. He opposed Citizens United, current slippery-slope into state endorsement of a Judeo-Christian God, and the erosion of Separation between Church and State.
11
@ManhattanWilliam
he would be sad in the direction the court is moving.
2
@Scott I wrote he did NOT live to see the court move securely in the direction he wanted it to.
2
She would have little material to work with, but I wish Linda Greenhouse could write my obituary.
35
I made a similar request to my Rabbi after he finished a eulogy, but I made sure to add “and may it not be very soon.”
1
I agree with some of Justice Stevens' decisions on the Supreme Court and disagree with others. Interesting that in a time of outrageous politicization of the Supreme Court today that a justice like Justice Stevens could see both the legal and common sense approach to the law and actually view his role on the court as one of learning. The late Justice Stevens was a significant and often humane asset to the rule of law.
19
It looks so presidential to have Barack Obama give Justice Stevens his Medal of Honor. We’ve almost forgotten that feeling.
146
@MIMA: I haven't forgotten it. Thinking about it helps me get through days like today, what with asking about someone's ethnicity and other such nonsense...
17
@MIMA
he gave him the medal of freedom. medal of honor is just for veterans.
12
Looking at the picture of two giants of jurisprudence, Burger and Stevens, before the latter's swearing in ceremony, it is hard to not note the contrast to the small minds that have been seated on the Supreme Court over the past couple of years.
Rest in peace, Mr. Stevens.
78
John Paul Stevens was a humble humane empathetic legal and personal titan born and bred on my South Side Chicago hometown.
No elite effete Ivy League education clouded his character context and perspective. A University of Chicago undergraduate education followed by Northwestern University School of Law offered him a practical realistic insight about managing civil and criminal justice matters.
In the lingering lumbering hyper partisan poltical Supreme Court of the United States Presidential nomination and Senate advice and consent process a John Paul Stevens wouldn't have a chance today.
John Paul Stevens showed that the very best human beings never stop learning and evolving towards an unattainable perfection before our use- by mortality date.
' We are such stuff as dreans are made upon. And our life is rounded with a sleep' from ' The Tempest ' Act IV Scene I William Shakespeare
.
68
@Blackmamba - The university of Chicago and Northwestern University are quite elite institutions today – were they not in the time that Stevens attended?
3
@BK
They both accepted black African Americans earlier and more often than the Ivy League. Recognizing all kinds of talent is equity and fairness. The antithesis of 'elite'.
3
"Money is not speech", said Justice Stevens in Buckley vs. Valeo and he was oh so right. A great and good American, a model for justice and a model of what as Justice of the Supreme Court should be.
He is missed. He has especially been missed these years, these terrible years.
He takes and has a place in the pantheon of justice with Hugo Black, William Douglass, Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, Robert Jackson, Felix Frankfurter, Harry Blackmun, Harlan Fiske, Oliver Wendell Holmes and...
His life, his experience, his service on the SCOTUS puts into sharpest relief the monstrosity, the absolute terrible monstrosity of the monstrous:
Of Thomas, Gorsuch, Alito and, above all, above all, above all, of Kavanaugh - these lesser creatures of a hateful political creed and its determination to impose it on us not by justice but by the use of the court to impose their hatreds and primitive beliefs on us all.
Hail and tributes to the life, to the very fact of Justice Stevens, an American to be admired.
A Justice for justice.
111
“Money is not speech.” Fortunately, Justice Stevens’ words and Buckley remain as precedent.
We can only hope that this precedent will be retrieved and Citizens United and its progeny weakened or overturned.
We are fortunate to have had Justice Stevens, a giant of a man, on the Supreme Court.
1
Justice Stevens was right then about Citizens United (what an oxymoron title), and the past ten years have proven the unjust opinion by our conservatively appointed Justices was nothing more than their corruption of our democracy.
History will not judge those jurists as honest to our Constitution, their profession, nor the citizens of the United States of America.
48
I am so heartbroken. My mind is filled with memories of his opinions - brilliant, eloquent, elevating American ideals to their highest level. Grateful for his contributions and his powerful voice. He used his life to do the right thing - not what benefitted the wealthy or privileged. God bless him. Hoping for like-minded souls to fill our courts.
66
A genuinely decent man whose policy positions ultimately ticked all the progressive boxes.
Unfortunately, his legal reasoning relies more on emotion than logic. And that doesn't bode well for their longevity...
I remember my dyed in the wool liberal law professors mocking Justice Stephens every time we read one of his opinions. I don't look forward to similar snark from the Roberts Court when they inevitably rewrite them...
3
Speaking as a lawyer, Justice Stevens may have had a quieter tenure than many of the legends with whom he served on the Supreme Court -- an extraordinarily wide range of justices extending from Thurgood Marshall to John Roberts -- but it would be difficult to overstate the significance of many of his opinions.
It would also be all but unfathomable to imagine any other Republican appointee to the Court proposing, as he did, a series of constitutional amendments that would bar partisan gerrymandering and eliminate the death penalty, or one openly calling for a repeal of the Second Amendment.
Rest In peace, Your Honor.
148
Can anyone give me an example of a centrist Justice (there are no "leftist" Justices, only centrists and so-called "conservatives") who, becoming older and wiser, moved significantly to the right?
I think not – because "older and wiser," at least when you start from a center point or to the right of center moves in only one direction. Right to left.
Thoughtful centrists do not become reactionaries as they become older and wiser. But thoughtful conservatives who become older and wiser frequently move left.
26
@Howard Stambor Byron White, perhaps?
Sadly, the days of a Supreme Court justice being appointed by a Republican president who candidly admits they are learning on the job and gradually moves from the doctrinal right to the left are gone. There can be no doubt that on all the hot button issues, Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, Alito and Kavanaugh will never budge.
40
From this past Sunday's NYT Book Review by Emily Bazelon: "The Making of a Justice" by John Paul Stevens
"He was the last of a group of Republican appointees (Earl Warren, William Brennan, Harry Blackmun, David Souter and, to a degree, Sandra Day O’Connor) who breathed compassion into the law and put the impact of their decisions on real people above arid theories."
Rest in Peace, Justice Stevens.
9
Stevens made many remarkable contributions to American jurisprudence in his long career, but for me and many in my generation whose political awareness really came in the 2000s, his signal achievement is leading the valiant rearguard action in defense of civil liberties during the Bush Administration.
Rest in peace.
23
What an amazing jurist, gentleman, American. I am so grateful for his contributions to American jurisprudence at this time of crisis in the country.
24
R.I.P
What a great legal mind and writer. He kept it up until the very end. He was a great judge, and an active writer and speaker, as well as a contributor to the NY Times Opinion column and the New York Review of Books. As Anthony Lewis pointed out in 2010, the one consistent theme in Steven's career was resistance to concentrated power. His dissenting opinion of Citizens United pointed out that the ruling would " ...undoubtedly cripple the ability of ordinary citizens, Congress, and the States to adopt even limited measures to protect against corporate domination of the electoral process." As it indeed has.
Stevens will be sorely missed by both those in the legal profession and those that care deeply about the rule of law and its just and fair applications.
193
A wonderful life story of a man of tremendous talent, and an open mind that allowed him to grow and change over the years.
An example to those who castigate some politicians for votes made 20-30 years ago, who it is possible have changed over the years, much as Justice Stevens did.
We need more Justices like Stevens.
47
"His frequent dissenting opinions, he said, arose from a conviction that both the public and the law were best served when differing views were expressed and explained, rather than suppressed for the sake of surface collegiality."
Perhaps this bears repeating for the benefit of those who prefer that Dems pretend to unity in the face of real and present danger than to argue amongst themselves publicly. If it hadn't have been for the Squad's squawking, the House would never have taken the necessary steps to reprimand the POTUS. And that's the truth.
10
A legend. A reminder of what is possible. A thought leader. A man among men. Thank you JPS.
40
We need honorable people like this today. Where are they? I'm inspired by this obit, but I'm not expecting it to warm the cold hearts of self-interested partisans. Our God of the universe, we pray for intervention.
23
It makes me weep to read this, considering the quality of the persons most recently appointed to this Court.
157
My fav Justice! I loved the man.😇😂😎
17
If only there were more like him today. RIP.
20
99 is a long sweet life. He won the lotto with a long healthy life.
20
And outstanding medical care.
6
A lovely man who like Sandra Day O'Conner left the Court earlier than than was good for our country. The interview he gave not long ago made me miss him greatly. Reading this article made me wonder if there was ever a justice appointed by a Democratic president who began voting in a way that was unexpected. I do agree that there is very little learning with the majority of the Republican appointees, but the kind of Republican Justice Stevens was has been gone for at least a generation.
31
@Human GPS The most recent Democratic appointee to depart significantly would be Byron White, appointed by JFK, who became more conservative in his later years (he retired in 1993 and was replaced by Ginsburg).
9
@Sean C. I actually thought of him after I posted. At least he had a keen legal mind and was certainly not political.
2
What a magnificent life story and fine man..... and extinct species..... a moderate Republican.
Thank you for your service, John Paul Stevens.
266
A gentleman and a scholar for sure, but more importantly, a compassionate life-long learner who fully appreciated the impact of the Court’s decisions on real people. What a huge loss for the country because even after his retirement, his voice was a clarion of reason and fairness . RIP, Justice Stevens. And thank you for your service.
57
What an exemplary person and judge.
Stevens was not an ideologue and was receptive to new ideas and information.
Stevens could see the big picture of justice, particularly with respect to how the death penalty was itself never a fair outcome.
May he rest in peace, and may his family take solace in the fine legacy he leaves.
63
Rest his soul. I have to say that I rather hope he had faded into quiet some time ago - not death, certainly, but unaware of the country's current nadir. A good man who lived to learn, and to think.
8
Judge Stevens said, “Learning on the job is essential to the process of judging,” he continued. “At the very least, I know that learning on the bench has been one of the most important and rewarding aspects of my own experience over the last 35 years.”
We were lucky to have such an honorable man on the Supreme Court. Let us hope that some of the current judges will be open to learning as well, and not be bound by party affiliation.
115
We've lost a role model, just when we need one most. Rest in Peace, Justice Stevens.
152
A giant among justices and a good and decent man. The lightweights that now occupy the majority of the court’s bench would be good to follow his lead in decency, life long learning, and scholarship.
206
If even Ted Cruz can appear apolitical in lauding the intelligence and honorability of a man who is ostensibly "liberal", you know we have lost a truly great man. More ominously, this may be a sign of a departure from a more congenial and honorable era. God bless Justice Stevens for his government service - and good sense.
65
How many great jurists are left in this country? Very few. A better question is, how many great jurists will come to be in the future? Big shoes that may never be filled.
29
I wish we had more justices with the qualities he possessed - empathy, intelligence, and fairness.
Rest in peace.
285