This is not unexpected, but it’s now official.
The announcement came in a statement from Chief Justice John Roberts:
Associate Justice John Paul Stevens has earned the gratitude and admiration of the American people for his nearly 40 years of distinguished service to the Judiciary, including more than 34 years on the Supreme Court. He has enriched the lives of everyone at the Court through his intellect, independence, and warm grace. We have all been blessed to have John as our colleague and his wife Maryan as our friend. We will miss John’s presence in our daily work, but will take joy in his and Maryan’s continued friendship in the years ahead.
We will miss John Paul Stevens on the court. He was a great justice and wrote many opinions but one I’ll always remember was the dissention he wrote for Bush v Gore:
Justice Stevens wrote a scathing dissent on the Court’s ruling to stay the recount of votes in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. He believed that the holding displayed “an unstated lack of confidence in the impartiality and capacity of the state judges who would make the critical decisions if the vote count were to proceed.” He continued, “[t]he endorsement of that position by the majority of this Court can only lend credence to the most cynical appraisal of the work of judges throughout the land. It is confidence in the men and women who administer the judicial system that is the true backbone of the rule of law. Time will one day heal the wound to that confidence that will be inflicted by today’s decision. One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year’s Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation’s confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.”
The summer and fall should be fun! We’ll have fights over the START treaty and a new confirmation fight.