Justice Stevens

I loved this New Yorker article on Justice Stevens. I follow the gossip and back-stories on Supreme Court justices in much same way I do with celebrities and politicians. That's one of the fun take-aways from law school--you get to have kind of a personal relationship with the Supreme Court justices, past and present, by the time you graduate.

I remember one of my law professors asked a student what Justice Stevens was thinking when he wrote his opinion in the case of the day. Then the professor wrote WNKWJSIT across the board, and he told us all to remember this acronym for "We never know what Justice Stevens is thinking." A bunch of law students actually tried to memorize this phrase, thinking it would come in handy on the exam. Law students are so cute.

The reason that my law professor was so annoyed with Justice Stevens was because he always seemed to put in his two cents in a separate opinion, but that opinion always missed the mark, just a little. I can relate. I have often left a discussion and then realized that my contribution, my earnest contribution, was really just blabbity-blabbity.

My favorite, most favorite, opinion by Justice Stevens was his dissent in Bush v. Gore (where the Supreme Court decided not to allow Florida to recount the ballots in the 2000 elections). The opinion itself is kind of a drag to read until you start to read between the lines about who is saying what. It's weirdly fascinating to see some of the most liberal justices rallying for strong states' rights and the most conservative talking about the need for strict federal oversight of state elections laws. Stevens criticized the Court for deciding the case on such obvious party lines. Justice Steven got to the crux of the matter, I think, and at last, he was the one precisely on the mark while the other justices were dancing around the point of the case with their legalese:

"Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year’s Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation’s confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."

I think I actually teared up when I read those sentences (I was emotionally groovy like that in law school). I think Justice Scalia probably teared up a little too, bless his teeny tiny heart.

Justice Stevens is contemplating retirement (he's 90 or something). He deserves a nice long peaceful retirement, and I think Obama will select an excellent replacement for him. I'll miss him when he's gone.