Whoa. From a good New Yorker piece on Justice Stevens:
Stevens believes that even the 1954 landmark, Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down the doctrine of “separate but equal” in education, is under assault. In 2007, when the Court, in an opinion by Roberts, struck down the Seattle school-integration plan, Stevens, in dissent, could only murmur in wonder: “It is my firm conviction that no Member of the Court that I joined in 1975 would have agreed with today’s decision.”
Stevens also says he may retire this summer and will certainly retire sometime over the next 3 years. Get ready for a filibuster and get ready for Bobo to get emo about any efforts to overcome it.
Ailuridae
Stevens has been pretty open that Brown has been under assault for a while.
The Grand Panjandrum
Stevens even admits he was a Republican when he was appointed, by a Republican.
Of course, 1975 was a long time ago. Would Nelson Rockefeller and Jacob Javits even recognize this GOP?
I think we are in for a long haul of very troubling reversals by the right wing fanatics on the Court now. But don’t forget Obama is just like Bush!
slippy
The SCROTUS is a joke right now. I think there should be an asterisk next to every decision the Roberts court barfs up since the conservative wing have made their lack of impartiality obvious. Just so we know what we have to go back and completely undo later after enough of the stupid bastards retire or pass on that we can replace them with qualified justices.
mistersnrub
Stevens is my favorite current Justice and it will be a sad day when he goes. He is brilliant, independent and open-minded, and the strongest counterweight on the court to Scalia’s intellectual bullying. Ginsburg is not long for the court too and Breyer is just not up to it – his dissents are often too theoretical and professorial. I really hope Obama nominates a heavy-hitter to replace JPS. I like Cass Sunstein, but I can already see the vicious confirmation battle he would face.
Jim C.
Here’s hoping that Obama sacks up and nominates a definite liberal to this seat. I don’t want to hear him comment about “not changing the composition of the court” or “bipartisanship”.
Doesn’t matter who Obama sends up to be confirmed anyway. Republicans will still throw a hissy fit. So make it worthwhile and put in someone who drag the court back to the left a little bit.
YellowJournalism
@Jim C.: Well, he did call the SCOTUS out during the State of the Union address, so here’s hoping he’s ready to make some major changes over there when the time comes.
KCinDC
Unless something unusual happens to cause one of the conservative justices to be replaced, the Supreme Court is going to be moving somewhat further right under Obama.
There’s no way that he’ll appoint anyone as liberal as Stevens or Ginsburg as replacements. And the replacement for Stevens, regardless of political beliefs, will not have nearly the influence on the court that Stevens has.
Brachiator
In an interview on public radio’s “Fresh Air” yesterday, Jeffrey Toobin speculated that Obama’s choice for a new Justice might be Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who has already gone through a confirmation process.
I enjoyed the New Yorker piece, although I think that Souter was more the leader of the moderate-liberal wing than was Stevens. From the “Fresh Air” interview and New Yorker article was the power Stevens wields as the person who assigns the task of writing an opinion when the liberals are in the majority.
liberal
@mistersnrub:
Sunstein? Surely you’re joking. He’s despicable.
mds
Yes, and yet he’s already been defined as a wild-eyed bomb-throwing leftist by Republicans. So Obama will be forced to nominate someone to Sunstein’s right.
I fail to see the problem, though. Justice Stevens was nominated as a moderate Republican. If Obama simply nominates a moderate Republican to replace him, there should be no problem …
Oh, who am I kidding? The Senate GOP held up the appointment of Douglas Hamilton, a fairly conservative Indiana judge supported by Senator Lugar, to the 7th Circuit for eight months, and unsuccessfully tried to filibuster his floor vote. If he doesn’t want SCOTUS to stay at eight members, Obama had better pick Michele Bachmann.
ruemara
Stevens & I have something in common. He doesn’t recognize the Courts & I can’t recognize America. I have no doubts that even Clarence Thomas would have voted for segregation in Brown vs Board of Ed. I just wish more people paid attention to their government, including the Supremes.
kansi
I wish Justice Stevens well and hope that he enjoys a long and rewarding retirement. Wonder what kind of posturing would take place if he retires before the midterm elections. Could we get someone confirmed?
gnomedad
Would the meme “they’re trying to bring back ‘separate but equal'”embarrass the wingers or would they embrace it?
Paul in KY
If he’s going to retire, he needs to do it soon. If he retires within a year of the next election, the Repubs will do their damdest to make sure the seat is not filled prior to the election.