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John Paul Stevens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from December 19, 1975, until his retirement on June 29, 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second oldest serving justice in the history of the Court, and the third longest serving Supreme Court Justice in history. Stevens is widely considered to have been on the liberal side of the Court at the time of his retirement.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Stevens served in the United States Navy during World War II and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law. After clerking for Justice Wiley Blount Rutledge, he co-founded a law firm in Chicago, focusing on antitrust law. In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed Stevens to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Five years later, President Gerald Ford successfully nominated Stevens to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Justice William O. Douglas. He became the senior Associate Justice after the retirement of Harry Blackmun in 1994. Stevens retired during the administration of President Barack Obama, and was succeeded by Justice Elena Kagan.
Stevens's majority opinions in landmark cases include Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Apprendi v. New Jersey, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, and Massachusetts v. EPA. Stevens is also known for his dissents in Bush v. Gore, D.C. v. Heller, and Citizens United v. FEC. |