In Memoriam- Justice John Paul Stevens

Today, Justice John Paul Stevens lays in repose at the Supreme Court. Later, he will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Justice Stevens died last Tuesday at ninety-nine years old, after retiring from the Supreme Court in 2010 at ninety. When he retired, he was the third longest serving Justice in Supreme Court history.

President Ford, a Republican, nominated Justice Stevens, who became a leader of the liberal voices on the Supreme Court. According to Jan Crawford Greenburg in her 2007 book, Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States, Justice Stevens “was a Maverick who didn’t ascribe to a particular theory. He was fiercely independent in his writings and actions. When the justices donned their robes before taking the bench, Stevens was the only one who refused assistance from the aides in the robing room. He always insisted on putting on his own robe. He took his own path in his opinions, too.”

Live coverage at the Supreme Court today on C-SPAN:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?462838-1/justice-john-paul-stevens-lies-repose-supreme-court

A biography of Justice Stevens at Oyez.org:
https://www.oyez.org/justices/john_paul_stevens

Paul Clement’s Tribute on SCOTUSblog:
https://www.scotusblog.com/2019/07/justice-stevens-at-oral-argument-often-fatal-always-kind/