In his thirty-four Terms, Justice John Paul Stevens authored some of the Court’s most cited, most despised, and most significant majority opinions. He dissented frequently and forcefully, taking the dramatic step of reading a dissent aloud from the bench more than twenty times. As the Senior Associate Justice for sixteen years on the Rehnquist and Roberts Courts, he assigned opinions when he voted with the majority and the Chief Justice dissented, making him effectively “the Chief Justice of the Liberal Supreme Court.” Since his retirement, commentators have shown how his jurisprudence shaped the law in areas from abortion to affirmative action to antitrust—his field of practice in Chicago a half-century ago.
If Stevens ranks among the Court’s most influential Justices, he also qualifies as one of its most enigmatic. The sole biography published about him describes his image as that of “a hermit in a monastery.” A cover story in the New York Times Magazine noted his “reputation as an idiosyncratic loner.” His preference to work remotely from his condominium in Florida earned him the nickname, “the FedEx justice.” For much of his career, he was the only Justice who reviewed certiorari petitions himself, rather than relying on the “pool” staffed by law clerks from other chambers. As one observer summarized it, Stevens “always stood apart” from his colleagues. His distinctive approach extended all the way to his trademark sartorial flourish, the bow tie.
This combination of influence and intrigue makes Stevens a captivating figure for Court followers. His decision to publish a memoir shortly after leaving the bench offered the enticing prospect of a new window into his life and work. The result of his efforts hit the shelf, fittingly, on the first Monday in October 2011—the same day the Court opened its Fall Term. Rather than reflecting directly on his own career, Stevens structures Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir around profiles of the five Chief Justices with whom he crossed paths…
The author is a second-year student at the Yale Law School.
