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NEWS ABOUT: John Paul Stevens

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Justice Stevens Explains Shift on Death Penalty

Former supporter cites racism, politics, judicial activism

(Newser) - Former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens is making clear for the first time why he switched course on the death penalty in 2008, calling it unconstitutional, the New York Times reports. Writing in the New York Review of Books, Stevens, who supported capital punishment in 1976, reveals his revised... More »

Bowties Bid Stevens Adieu on Last Day

(AP) - Bowtie-wearing lawyers and spectators dotted the Supreme Court chamber on the last day Justice John Paul Stevens sat on the bench, a nod to the retiring justice and his signature neckwear. The 90-year-old Stevens told colleagues in a letter he read from the bench that if he had "overstayed"... More »

Kagan Pick Reveals Savvy Obama Strategy

Prez manages to play it safe and progressive at the same time

(Newser) - President Obama's pick of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court says more about the president than his nominee, writes Glenn Thrush. The president spoke boldly about the need to stand up to big business in his pre-selection talk while privately seeking a safe pick who could be confirmed without much... More »

Kagan Choice for Court: How It Will Play Out

She'll have critics on both right and left, but will skirt major battles

(Newser) - The Senate confirmation hearings for Elena Kagan will likely include some minor dust-ups but no major battles, observers say. Liberals are worried she's more conservative than Stevens and will thus push the court to the right, but are unlikely to seriously oppose her. Conservatives respect her overall, though her move... More »

Obama Will Nominate Elena Kagan to Supreme Court

President Obama plans to nominate solicitor general for high court seat

(Newser) - President Obama plans to nominate Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court to replace John Paul Stevens tomorrow, MSNBC reports and numerous other sources comfirm. Should Kagan, 50, be confirmed, the high court would have three female justices for the first time. Her nomination marks the first time in 38 years... More »

Obama Interviews First Court Candidate

Under-the-radar pick Sidney Thomas gets Oval Office meeting

(AP) - President Obama has accelerated his search for his next Supreme Court nominee, meeting in the Oval Office with one of the candidates, federal judge Sidney Thomas of Montana, a person familiar with the conversation says. Obama's meeting with Thomas yesterday was his first known formal interview for the upcoming vacancy... More »

Democrats to Play Offense in Court Fight

Will attack 'conservative judicial activism,' citing Citizens United ruling

(Newser) - “Judicial activism” isn’t just a conservative buzzword anymore. Democrats intend to use the upcoming confirmation battle over John Paul Stevens’ successor to argue that it’s the conservatives on John Roberts’ court who are litigating from the bench, high-ranking Democrats tell Politico . Exhibit A: The wildly unpopular Citizens... More »

White House: Clinton Staying Put

Refutes Hatch suggestion she's being considered for Supreme Court

(Newser) - Orrin Hatch is a nice guy and all, but his speculation this morning that Hillary Clinton might fill the Supreme Court seat of John Paul Stevens is bunk—or so says the White House, according to Politico . "The president thinks Secretary Clinton is doing an excellent job as Secretary... More »

Hillary Clinton's Name Floated for Court Slot: Sen. Hatch

Sen. Orrin Hatch says he's heard her name floated

(AP) - Sen. Orrin Hatch says he's heard Hillary Clinton's name mentioned in connection with the Supreme Court vacancy brought about by the retirement of John Paul Stevens. Appearing with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy on NBC's Today show, the Utah Republican said only, "I heard Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's... More »

After Stevens: What's Next?

Expect a fierce battle for liberal justice's replacement

(Newser) - What will John Paul Stevens’ retirement mean for the Supreme Court? Here are three early thoughts on what comes next:
  • Expect the tea partiers to get extremely riled up over whoever President Obama nominates, writes Chris Good of the Atlantic . They have a “very strict (one could almost say
... More »

Justice John Paul Stevens Will Retire

Obama has another Supreme Court vacancy to fill

(AP) - US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the court's oldest member and leader of its liberal bloc, says he is retiring. President Obama now has his second high court opening to fill. Stevens said today that he will step down when the court finishes its work for the summer in... More »

Obama Eyes Elena Kagan, 2 Others for Supreme Court

President will move fast once Stevens steps down

(Newser) - Justice John Paul Stevens still hasn't decided exactly how soon he'll retire from the Supreme Court, but President Obama already has his eye on three potential replacements: Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appellate judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland. The White House is preparing to move quickly with a... More »

A First for Stevens: Feeling Tired on the Bench

Says he's close to making a retirement decision

(Newser) - John Paul Stevens still hasn't decided whether he's going to retire from the Supreme Court, but he admits a "novel experience" to the New York Times —feeling tired on the bench. It came during the huge decision on corporate political donations in January, when Stevens, who turns 90... More »

Post-Stevens Supreme Court Comes Into Sharper Focus

Departure of senior liberal justice will shift the balance of power

(Newser) - John Paul Stevens will probably retire from the Supreme Court this summer, leaving an opening for President Obama to fill. In the broadest sense, Obama's pick will change little: The president will probably choose a justice who will side with the court's liberals. But the new face will not be... More »

Justice Stevens: I May Retire

Supreme Court's liberal leader says he'll leave within three years

(Newser) - John Paul Stevens would like to make a decision about retiring from the Supreme Court within the next month, he reveals in a new interview. “I still have my options open,” he tells Jeffrey Toobin in a lengthy New Yorker profile. “You can say I will retire... More »

Judge Stevens Decries Court's Corporate Turn

89-year-old gives impassioned opinion but sounds weary

(Newser) - Justice John Paul Stevens railed against the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning decades of campaign finance reform, invoking the names of such revered justices as Sandra Day O’Connor, Thurgood Marshall, and Byron White. In giving the minority opinion yesterday, Stevens spoke for 20 minutes, twice as long as Anthony... More »

Supreme Court Won't Spare Beltway Sniper

Execution set for tomorrow as request for more time fails

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from John Allen Muhammad, also known as the Beltway sniper, clearing the way for his execution tomorrow. Muhammad’s lawyers said he needed more time to prepare his appeals. Although justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor questioned Virginia law for not affording convicts... More »

America's Most Powerful Octogenarians

Slate ranks the country's top old people

(Newser) - Retirement? Bah! Slate’s annual 80 for 80 list ranks America’s mightiest octogenarians, giving extra credit for post-80 achievements, and “being really, really old.” The top:
  1. Thomas Monson (82): As the head of the Mormon church, 13 million people think he’s a prophet “in the
... More »

Justice Stevens Hints He'll Retire This Term

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

(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... More »

Justices Cite Free Speech in Animal Abuse Videos

They seem ready to strike down law

(Newser) - The Supreme Court seems likely to back an appellate court ruling that said depictions of animal cruelty are protected as free speech by the First Amendment. In arguments today, the justices considered the case of a man convicted of selling dogfighting videos under a 1999 law that equates videos of... More »

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