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Justice Stevens Hints He'll Retire This Term

Liberal stalwart, at age 89, admits, 'I'm not exactly a kid'

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 19, 2009 6:01 AM CDT

(Newser) – John Paul Stevens, the senior justice on the Supreme Court and the bench's liberal lion, says he gave serious thought to retiring—in the late 1980s, when he was 65 years old. Instead, while younger colleagues have packed their bags, Stevens has become the court's master tactician, cobbling together narrow majorities for decisions on civil rights, the death penalty, and Guantanamo Bay. Now approaching 90, Stevens suggests to USA Today that he's ready to leave: "That can't be news. I'm not exactly a kid."

Stevens has hired fewer clerks for this year's session, and although he stops short of telling the paper he's retiring he speaks about his career with a tone of farewell. The bowtie-sporting justice says the court has changed "dramatically" since President Ford appointed him; with the exception of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, "every new appointee has been more conservative than his or her predecessor." Stevens is highly impressed by Sonia Sotomayor but, then again, he compliments all his colleagues: "Sometimes I'm disappointed in the decisions they reach, but I respect every one of them."

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Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual for next year's court session, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire in the next year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Supreme Court poses for its annual photo. John Paul Stevens is seated second from left, between Anthony Kennedy and John Roberts. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak. FILE )

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We're getting to a point that our cases are revisiting issues that I wrote on 10, 20, 30 years ago. I really have felt pretty good about re-reading the opinions I wrote many years ago. I have to confess that. - John Paul Stevens

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 9 comments

So_Cal_Larry

Oct 20, 2009 7:02 AM CDT

The Supreme Court makes law all the time when it defines the meanings of the words in laws. This Court needs a drastic pull back leftward. Conservative courts favor government and business. Liberal courts favor individuals. All this rightwing 'law & order' stuff has turned us into a prison society with immense numbers of Americans behind bars for minor violations. Let there be no doubt, there are lots of innocent people in prison, and too many innocent people have been executed.

drlarrymitchell

Oct 19, 2009 12:17 PM CDT

True that.

divetrader

Oct 19, 2009 11:51 AM CDT

I don't think you would hear a statement like that coming from brain dead Thomas or witless Scalia.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg • retirement • John Paul Stevens • federal judges • US Supreme Court • Sonia Sotomayor • Supreme Court justice

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Justice Stevens Hints He'll Retire This Term