#john paul stevens

[dadsinsuits]

John Paul Stevens

[deadpresidents]

Could you recommend books on the Supreme Court? I honestly didn’t think there were any.

There are countless numbers of books about the Supreme Court, so it really depends on what exactly you're interested in reading about, whether that might be a general history of the Court itself, biographies of the most influential justices, landmark cases, and so on.

By no means is this a complete list, but here's some suggestions that I can recommend:

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COURT •A People's History of the Supreme Court: The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped Our Constitution by Peter Irons (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Nine Scorpions in a Bottle: Great Judges and Cases of the Supreme Court by Max Lerner and edited by Richard Cummings (BOOK) •The Supreme Court by William H. Rehnquist (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) -- This history of the Court is especially interesting because it was written by the incumbent Chief Justice. •The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

BOOKS ABOUT SPECIFIC JUSTICES OR COURTS •The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Leaving the Bench: Supreme Court Justices at the End by David N. Atkinson (BOOK) -- A unique book about Justices at the end of their time on the Court and how they ultimately left the Court. Most of them died in office because the Court is a lifetime appointment, but the book looks at how some Justices held on to their seats and remained on the bench despite failing health or faltering cognitive abilities. •First: Sandra Day O'Connor by Evan Thomas (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Sisters In Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World by Linda Hirshman (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) -- An excellent dual biography about the first two women ever appointed to the Supreme Court and the impact they had on American law. •The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) -- The legendary journalist from the Washington Post gives the Woodward treatment to the Supreme Court presided over by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. •The Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America by Wil Haygood (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) -- The remarkable life of Thurgood Marshall, who was already a legendary figure in the annals of American justice as a civil rights lawyer who successfully argued the case the led to the Supreme Court striking down Brown v. the Board of Education. Marshall's place in history became even more important when President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated him as the first-ever Black Supreme Court Justice. •Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir by John Paul Stevens (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) -- This is probably my favorite of the recommendations. John Paul Stevens, the third longest-serving Justice in the history of the Supreme Court, writes about the five Chief Justices (Fred Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren E. Burger, William H. Rehnquist, and John Roberts) that he worked for or with throughout his long career, beginning as a law clerk under Chief Justice Vinson and eventually serving as Associate Justice alongside Chief Justice Burger, Chief Justice Rehnquist, and Chief Justice Roberts.

BOOKS ABOUT JOHN MARSHALL (Longest-serving Chief Justice of the United States and arguably the most important judge in American history) •John Marshall: The Chief Justice Who Saved the Nation by Harlow Giles Unger (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times by Joel Richard Paul (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court by Richard Brookhiser (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

I also strongly recommend checking out James F. Simon's books about the Supreme Court and the Presidency, which focus on the impact that the Court and the Chief Justices at the time had on specific Presidential Administrations. These are all written by James F. Simon: •Eisenhower vs. Warren: The Battle for Civil Rights and Liberties (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War Powers (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and the Epic Struggle to Create a United States (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •FDR and Chief Justice Hughes: The President, the Supreme Court, and the Epic Battle Over the New Deal (BOOK | KINDLE)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"The Court has unambiguously concluded that the individual freedom of conscience protected by the First Amendment embraces the right to select any religious faith or none at all." -- Justice Stevens for the majority (Wallace v. Jaffree, June 4, 1985)

[politicaldilfs]

John Paul Stevens

[gregorygalloway]

John Paul Stevens (20 April 1920 – 16 July 2019)

[fordlibrarymuseum]

Remembering John Paul Stevens, 1920-2019

We are sad to mark the passing of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens earlier this week at age 99. He was the third longest serving justice at the time of his retirement in June 2010, just under 35 years after President Ford appointed him to the Supreme Court.

Born in Chicago, Stevens graduated from the University of Chicago in 1941. He served in the Navy during World War II as an intelligence officer in the Pacific Theater. After the war he attended Northwestern University School of Law and graduated first in his class. Stevens then served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Wiley Rutledge before entering private practice. He worked for law firms in the Chicago area, including one he helped form, for many years, dealing mostly with litigation and antitrust law. Additionally, he taught law classes part time and gained experience serving as counsel on Federal committees.

Stevens became a United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in October 1970. He served in that capacity until November 1975 when President Ford nominated him to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice William O. Douglass. “Judge Stevens is held in the highest esteem by his colleagues in the legal profession and the Judiciary and has had an outstanding career in the practice and the teaching of law as well as on the Federal Bench,” President Ford said in his nomination remarks. “I am confident that he will bring both professional and personal qualities of the highest order to the Supreme Court.”

The Senate quickly confirmed Stevens with a vote of 98-0 and he took his seat on the bench on December 19, 1975. Although he was registered as a Republican when he was appointed, over time he became viewed as part of the liberal wing of the Supreme Court. President Ford never regretted nominating Stevens. “He has served his nation well, at all times carrying out his judicial duties with dignity, intellect, and without partisan political concerns. Justice Stevens has made me, and our fellow citizens, proud of my three decade old decision to appoint him to the Supreme Court,” President Ford wrote in a letter honoring Justice Stevens in 2005. Stevens received a copy of the letter, which he reportedly displayed in his Supreme Court chambers.

Read historian Richard Norton Smith’s interview with John Paul Stevens from the Ford Presidential Foundation’s Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project.

Images:  President Gerald Ford, Chief Justice Warren Burger, and John Paul Stevens at the U.S. Supreme Court Building for the Swearing-in of Stevens as an Associate Justice, 12/19/1975 (National Archives Identifier 6926435)

Letter from President Gerald R. Ford to Dean William Michael Treanor regarding Justice John Paul Stevens, 30 Years on the Supreme Court, 9/21/2005, from the Ford Post Presidential Office Files, Box A544, folder “Correspondence File, 2005 [To-Tu]”

Letter from Justice John Paul Stevens to President Gerald R. Ford, 10/11/2005, from the Gerald and Betty Ford Special Materials, Box A10, folder “Stevens, John Paul”

[nprbooks]

Photo by Peter Haden/HadenMedia Productions

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens talks to our own Nina Totenberg about his ping pong prowess, his new book The Making of a Justice, and why he thinks the world is changing for the worse -- find that conversation here.

-- Petra

[shakespearenews]

Letters respond to Tyler Foggatt’s piece about Justice John Paul Stevens, Jane Mayer’s reporting on Al Franken, and Connie Bruck’s article about Alan Dershowitz.

During my nine years as the director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, in Washington, D.C., Justice John Paul Stevens was a regular visitor (The Talk of the Town, August 5th & 12th). Every year, he would bring his clerks to see books in our collection that may have belonged to Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. As Tyler Foggatt describes, Justice Stevens believed de Vere to be the author of Shakespeare’s works.

We at the Folger revered Justice Stevens for his independent-mindedness. But his denial of Shakespeare’s authorship is founded on a conspiracy theory that no reputable Shakespeare scholar countenances. The historical evidence of Shakespeare’s career as an actor and a playwright—including praise of his greatness by his contemporaries—is clear and undeniable. Those interested in the question should consult Shakespeare Documented, the Folger’s authoritative Web site. While we at the Folger will remember Justice Stevens fondly, we strongly disavow his wrongheaded opinions about Shakespeare.

Gail Kern Paster Washington, D.C.