Justice Stevens to retire ‘in the best interests’ of the Supreme Court

Supreme
Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced Friday he will retire when the court
wraps up its work for the summer break.

The
retirement gives President Barack Obama the chance to appoint a second justice
to the court in two years, but could set off a bruising confirmation battle
with Senate Republicans.

The
Stevens retirement was not a surprise. The liberal justice turns 90 this month
and said in an interview published
less than a week ago that he would “surely” retire while Obama was still in the
White House.

{mosads}“Having
concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my
successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the
Court’s next term, I shall retire from regular active service as an Associate
Justice, under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 371 (b), effective the next day
after the Court rises for the summer recess this year,” Stevens wrote in a
letter to President Barack Obama.

Confirming
a successor to Stevens is expected to be more difficult for Obama than last
year’s confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor. If will follow a partisan fight over
healthcare, and will take place as the Senate has one eye on this fall’s
elections.

Republican
senators on Friday warned they will fight Obama if he nominates an “activist”
justice.

“Every
President has an obligation to nominate Judges who understand and are committed
to their proper role in our system of government,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), the
senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.

“As
I have said for many years, someone who would be an activist judge, who would
substitute their own views for what the
law requires, is not qualified to serve on the federal bench.”

Sen.
Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), Judiciary’s chairman, urged both sides to engage in a
“thoughtful and civil discourse” during the process to replace Stevens.

“I expect President Obama to continue his practice of consulting with
members on both sides of the aisle as he considers this important nomination,”
Leahy said. “The decisions of the Supreme Court are often made by only five
individuals, but they impact the daily lives of each and every American. All
senators should strive to fulfill their constitutional duty of advise and
consent, and give fair and thorough consideration to Justice Stevens’
successor.”

Initial
speculation about potential nominees focused on two female candidates: Federal
Appellate Judge Diane Wood and U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Obama
interviewed and considered both before settling on Sotomayor as the replacement
for Justice David Souter last year.

Nan Aron, president of Alliance for Justice, said Stevens “leaves large shoes to fill.

“The
President now has an opportunity to name a worthy successor who
will stand up for equal justice for all, not just the wealthy or
powerful,” Aron said.

Colin
Hanna of the conservative group Let Freedom Ring, which will be coordinating
with the Tea Party movement and other right-wing groups on Republican strategy
in the nomination fight, suggested Kagan could win approval.

He
said Republicans expect Obama to replace Stevens with an equally liberal
justice, and that his group would only call for a Republican filibuster if a
particular nominee
represents a significant departure from the expected norm.

Kagan, however, may not be liberal enough for Obama’s base, said Hanna, who
noted her support for the president’s broad authority to detain enemy
combatants.

Wood’s
strong views on abortion rights, however, could be enough to prompt calls for a
filibuster should she be nominated, Hanna said.

Stevens
was appointed to the court in 1975 by Republican President Gerald Ford. He has
served under seven presidents and three chief justices, and emerged as the
court’s liberal leader.

His
landmark votes include reinstating the death penalty in 1976 and penning a
scathing dissent in the 2000 Bush v. Gore
recount case.

“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,” Chief Justice
John Roberts said in a Friday statement. “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.”

The
White House was notified of Stevens’s decision to retire by his letter
delivered at 10:30 a.m. Friday morning. The official said White House general
counsel Bob Bauer talked to Obama, who was flying home from Prague aboard Air
Force One, at about 10:45 a.m. and informed him of the letter.

Amanda Leiter, who clerked for Stevens in 2003 and 2004, described Stevens as a generous boss with an unbelievable memory.

“Sometimes we would be so steeped in an
issue, and think we were up to speed, and then he’d say, ‘What about what we
said about this in 1982?’ And then we’d be back to the drawing board. He also
had a deep understanding of human nature and he really cared about the people
in the cases before him.

”Leiter said Stevens didn’t reminisce often about past cases,
although the Court’s Bush v. Gore decision “upset him a lot — which you can
tell from his opinion.”

Sam
Youngman, Bridget Johnson and Tony Romm contributed to this post

This
post was updated at 12 p.m., 1:02 p.m. and 1:48 p.m.