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Speculation Grows Over Another Supreme Court Nomination By John Stanton Roll Call Staff Sept. 3, 2009, 4:13 p.m. Speculation Grows Over Another Supreme Court Nomination U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ decision to hire only one law clerk for the coming term — and not the normal three or four — has fueled speculation on Capitol Hill about whether the 89-year-old jurist is planning to step aside and the effect another high court retirement would have on the Senate’s already busy fall schedule. Stevens has typically hired all of his clerks for a coming term at once, but this...

The legal world — or at least those who watch movements at the Supreme Court closely — is a bit abuzz this morning with the news that Justice John Paul Stevens has confirmed that he has hired only one clerk so far for next year’s term. Clerk-watching has long been one of the signals as to whether a justice plans to retire, although clearly not foolproof and definitely not official. Justices usually hire three to four clerks by the beginning of the summer, a year or so before the next term when the clerks would start work. For Justice Stevens,...

Washington, DC -- Justice John Paul Stevens could become the next Supreme Court justice to retire if the speculation that has started today is correct. Stevens has hired just one law clerk for an upcoming Supreme Court session, which observers say is an indication he could be considering a retirement bid.

John Paul Stevens has the longest tenure on the Supreme Court and is not coincidentally its oldest member at 89. Speculation arises every year about his potential retirement, but until now, Stevens has seemed indefatigable — or perhaps concerned about retiring with a more conservative President in place to nominate his replacement. However, Stevens no longer has that worry, and the small number of clerks he has hired this summer for the next session indicates that retirement will come soon: Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the...

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire next year. If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama his second high court opening in two years. Obama chose Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the court when Justice David Souter announced his retirement in May. Souter's failure to hire clerks was the first signal that he was contemplating leaving the court. Stevens, 89, joined the court in 1975 and is the second-oldest justice in the court's history, after Oliver Wendell Holmes....

In his 34 years on the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens has evolved from idiosyncratic dissenter to influential elder, able to assemble majorities on issues such as war powers and property rights. Now, the court's senior justice could be gaining ground on a case that dates back 400 years: the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. Justice Stevens, who dropped out of graduate study in English to join the Navy in 1941, is an Oxfordian -- that is, he believes the works ascribed to William Shakespeare actually were written by the 17th earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere. Several justices across...

Comment on to previous post points out at p.2 of the Stevens dissent he refers to NFA and US v. Miller: "Upholding a conviction under that Act, this Court held that..." Same mistake the 9th Circus made years ago and had to issue a new opinion, since Miller was never convicted -- commentators noted this was pretty suggestive the court hadn't bothered to read Miller before citing it. First thing you look for in reading a case is what happened below, and what the Court do to that. Very first thing. I'd add that at 41 he refers to: "In...

...The last Supreme Court term, which ended in June, was the stormiest in recent memory, with more 5-to-4 decisions split along ideological lines than at any time in the court’s history. In a series of controversial cases about abortion, racial integration in schools, faith-based programs and the death penalty, the court’s four more conservative justices prevailed, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy providing the crucial fifth vote. The four more liberal justices were often moved to dissent in unusually personal and vehement terms. “It is my firm conviction,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in the case striking down race-based enrollment policies...

The next U.S. president could reshape the Supreme Court, where the two oldest members are liberals and volatile decisions like abortion now hinge on a single swing vote. The possible sea change has already surfaced 18 months before the November 2008 election and could develop into a major campaign issue for Democrats who want to move the court to the left and Republicans who hope to plant it firmly in the conservative camp. The U.S. high court is now evenly split between conservative and liberal justices, who have been divided by 5-4 votes on abortion rights, the death penalty and...

From the Evans-Novak Political Report: "The rumor around Washington -- originating from undetermined sources some time around the beginning of 2006 -- is that Justice John Paul Stevens wants to be replaced by a Republican President, just as he was appointed by one, Gerald Ford. Stevens, a consistent liberal voice and vote on the high court, was also rumored to have wanted to step down after the 2006 election, so as to avoid making his replacement into a political issue. Although there is no way to determine whether Stevens actually intends to retire, it is not unlikely that one of...

For those involved in GOP-GOTV, it is very important to know the rumors on John Paul Stevens: For the past several weeks, there has been a rumor circulating among high-level officials in Washington, D.C., that a member of the U.S. Supreme Court has received grave medical news and will announce his or her retirement by year’s end. Then the GOP-GOTV dynamite needs to get to work. And just what would these "moderate democrat" Senator wannabes do if elected: Schumer is reported to have assured Democrats that Bob Casey Jr. -- despite running as a moderate Senate candidate -- would be...

WASHINGTON -- As Justice John Paul Stevens turns 86 this week (Thursday, April 20), he is the latest jurist-to-watch in what has become, during President Bush's second term, a vulturine pastime for ideological activists: predicting the next vacancy on the Supreme Court. Think the battle for control of the nation's highest court ended with the recent confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito? Think again. Those confirmations likely helped conservatives solidify their representation. But it is the next vacancy that gives them the opportunity to finally take a 5-4 majority on the court and put landmark abortion...

When you write about things political in Washington you pick up every rumor imaginable. Most of them are bogus, initiated by someone who has an axe to grind. I recall vividly being in the office of Senator James Danforth (“Dan”) Quayle (R-IN) within a few months of Republicans’ having taken control of the Senate for the first time since President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first term. Quayle was on the phone with his wife, Marilyn, who had picked up rumors of a huge sex scandal which supposedly was going to bring down the Republican Majority. Quayle was making light of the...

Now that the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito has given the Supreme Court another conservative voice, forces are gearing up for what could be the battle of all battles -– over the next appointment to the high court. Speculation is that Justice John Paul Stevens, the court's most liberal member, will retire in the near future, possibly as soon as this year. The appointment of a conservative replacement would definitely push the court solidly to the right -– and likely touch off a furious fight from Democrats. An analysis published in the Wall Street Journal found that conservative Justices Antonin...

After the confirmation of Samuel Alito, I heard Fox New Channel's Reporter Megan Kendall when asked who might be next to retire from the bench said, "Justice Stevens has stated in the past that he was confirmed under a Republican President wants to retire under a Republican President."

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, speaking at a traditionally black college, joked that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned. Coulter had told the Philander Smith College audience Thursday that more conservative justices were needed on the Supreme Court to change the current law on abortion. Stevens is one of the court's most liberal members. "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee," Coulter said. "That's just a joke, for you in the media." Coulter has made a career of writing and lecturing on her strongly conservative views. At one point during her...

Justice John Paul Stevens is 85 years old, but he is said to be healthy (or not?), and hired two new clerks this summer. However, there have been rumors since the late 90's about him thinking of stepping down. Nobody is saying (that I've heard) right now that he's going to retire, but the possibility is worth considering, especially when you read more recent rumors about Stevens, for example:

NEW YORK Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens would like to see all questions about how a court nominee would vote on a particular issue ruled out of bounds. Speaking at a law school conference at New York's Fordham University, Justice Stevens said a judge's pre-argument positions should not be admissible in confirmation hearings. He says they're inherently unreliable. Stevens also says learning on the job is one of the most important aspects of being a judge. Looking back over his 30 years on the high court, he outlined a series of cases in which his vote shifted from what...

WASHINGTON - The death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist leaves the court's oldest member, 85-year-old liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, temporarily in charge. The court operates on a strict seniority system, meaning that whenever the chief justice is absent the justice with the most years on the court takes over. Stevens, named to the high court by President Ford in 1975, also filled in for Rehnquist when the chief justice was absent from the bench for several months after announcing his cancer diagnosis last October. Being chief justice, or acting as chief justice, means presiding during oral arguments, running...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 - It is not every day that a Supreme Court justice calls his own decisions unwise. But with unusual candor, Justice John Paul Stevens did that last week in a speech in which he explored the gap that sometimes lies between a judge's desire and duty.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 - It is not every day that a Supreme Court justice calls his own decisions unwise. But with unusual candor, Justice John Paul Stevens did that last week in a speech in which he explored the gap that sometimes lies between a judge's desire and duty. Addressing a bar association meeting in Las Vegas, Justice Stevens dissected several of the recent term's decisions, including his own majority opinions in two of the term's most prominent cases. The outcomes were "unwise," he said, but "in each I was convinced that the law compelled a result that I would...

In a speech in his home town, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens pushed for restricting the death penalty to unborn fetuses. “The men on death row are real human beings with hopes and dreams,” said Stevens. “The unborn have no hopes or dreams. They’re mere blobs of flesh inhabiting a woman’s body. The woman is perfectly within her rights to remove this flesh. This is what the Court ruled in Roe v. Wade. This is settled law.” Death penalty cases dominate the work of the high court. Week after week justices deal with final emergency appeals, sometimes filed in...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens lashed out against the death penalty Saturday, on the heels of a vote by the Conference of Chief Justices of state courts to oppose a wrongheaded bill by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., that would put capital punishment into overdrive. Stevens, addressing an American Bar Association meeting in Chicago, did not call for abolition of the death penalty. But he lamented the impending departure of Sandra Day O'Connor, whose vote helped restrict the death penalty for mentally retarded defendants and those whose crimes were committed before their 18th birthday....

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens steered the debate over President Bush's nominee to a new subject: capital punishment, sharply condemning the country's death penalty system. The court has been closely divided in death row cases, with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor often in the middle. President Bush's choice to replace her, John Roberts, has a limited track record. Roberts, 50, showed little sympathy for prisoner appeals as a government lawyer in the Reagan administration, but later did free legal work for a death row inmate. In a February 1983 memo while serving in the Reagan White House, Roberts suggested that...

CHICAGO (AP) - Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens issued an unusually stinging criticism of capital punishment Saturday evening, telling lawyers that he was disturbed by "serious flaws." Stevens stopped short of calling for an end to the death penalty, but said that there are many problems in the way it is used. Recent exonerations of death row inmates through scientific evidence is significant, he told the American Bar Association, "not only because of its relevance to the debate about the wisdom of continuing to administer capital punishment but also because it indicates that there must be serious flaws in...

Supreme Court Justice Stevens Says Getting International Opinions a Responsible PracticeBy Jeanine Ibrahim Associated Press Writer Published: May 24, 2005 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Allowing U.S. courts to consider the views of other judges - including international jurists - while making a decision is a responsible practice, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said during a speech Monday. His comments related to a March decision by the Supreme Court that ruled it unconstitutional to execute juvenile killers, ending a practice in 19 states that has been roundly condemned by many of America's closest allies. The 5-4 decision threw out the death...

Robert Novak is reporting that William Rehnquist will retire at 4:50pm today when the President lands in Washington. A source close to the White House tells me that the White House is operating under the assumption, based on presumed knowledge of Novak's source, that this will, in fact, happen. Yes, keep in mind that I am not being told that the White House is confirming this, but that the White House has a good idea it should trust Novak's source. Third party sources are now telling me that the John Paul Stevens rumor is true and that the White House...

I think these guys have had the best SCOTUS coverage Robert Novak is reporting that William Rehnquist will retire at 4:50pm today when the President lands in Washington. A source close to the White House tells me that the White House is operating under the assumption, based on presumed knowledge of Novak's source, that this will, in fact, happen. Third party sources are now telling me that the John Paul Stevens rumor is true and that the White House is now planning for a third vacancy, but not until the end of the year. Third party sources, who I treat...

The Supreme Court ended its current term on Monday with more of a whimper than a bang. In the Ten Commandments cases, the justices further muddied the muddy waters of the First Amendment. In a Colorado case, they found no way to compensate a victim of grossly incompetent cops. They refused even to hear the appeal of two reporters who face prison for doing their job. Then they doffed their robes and departed for the summer. One is reminded of Oliver Cromwell's farewell to the Rump Parliament of 1653: "You have sat too long for any good you have done....

Legalized Theft Mark Jurries II @ 8:11 pm Y'all have no doubt heard about the Supreme Court's decision to allow local governments to seize homes if it's proven to be in the public's interest. This is, as Thomas Fleming and Joseph Farah have pointed out, a trampling on a vital right, the right to land ownership. Essentially, this ruling takes the view that the government owns the land in practice, and can boot tenants out as it sees fit. While I generally don’t get all worked up over greedy businesses and what have you, it’s nonetheless obvious that unscrupulous...

U.S. Supreme Court says cities have broad powers to take property.

In reaction to Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, a public interest law firm, which represented the rights of minors before the high court, expressed disappointment that the court upheld the ban on advocacy advertising. The Supreme Court ruled that a ban prohibiting minors under the age of 18 from making monetary contributions to political campaigns of their choice was unconstitutional. The court also ruled constitutional a ban on advocacy advertising. "The unanimous decision to uphold the constitutional rights of young people to participate in a key area of the electoral process represents an enormously important...

We live in a global economy, right? But the elites mouthing this mantra haven't shared with the U.S. people the news that globalism not only means open borders for the movement of goods and the migration of peoples, but also textbooks teaching children to be citizens of the world instead of patriots. Globalism also means bending the U.S. Constitution to conform to the opinions of foreigners who pompously enunciate new laws and new human rights. The utterings of these self-important bureaucrats in the United Nations and Europe could be merely matters for TV humor if it were not that U.S....