John Paul Stevens

Posted September 19, 2008, 2:26 pm in Lifelong Learning



John. P. Stevems
Born: April 20, 1920

Associate Supreme Court justice since 1975. Justice Stevens is currently the court's oldest and longest-serving member and wrote the most-cited opinion in American law, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. He is the second-oldest Justice in the history of the Court. If he continues on the Court beyond February 24, 2011, he will surpass the current record of 90 years and 310 days old held by former Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

After the Age of Seventy

• At age 85 (2005), acted as Chief Justice prior to the swearing-in of John Roberts.
• Authored the majority opinions on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Rasul v. Bush, McConnell v. FEC, Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, Apprendi v. New Jersey, and Massachusetts v. EPA.
• Wrote dissenting opinions in Bush v. Gore and Van Orden v. Perry.

Quotes:

• "The government must pursue a course of complete neutrality toward religion. "
• "It is not our job to apply laws that have not yet been written."
• "The practice of executing such offenders is a relic of the past and is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society. "

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