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Retired Justice Stevens: These Are The 3 Biggest 'Errors' SCOTUS Made During My Tenure
Townhall.com ^ | November 26, 2018 | Beth Bauman

Posted on 11/26/2018 6:43:42 PM PST by Kaslin

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens plans to release his book, "The Making of a Justice: My First 94 Years,” in May, not long after his 99th birthday. The New York Times interviewed him for a piece about his memoir, at which point he laid out the three Supreme Court decisions he still believes, to this day, were the wrong decision.

District of Columbia v. Heller

The 2008 landmark decision, often referred to as Heller, was a 5-4 decision that upheld an individual's right to possess a firearm for self-defense. There is no need to be part of a militia in order to own a gun. 

The Court also ruled that Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban and lock requirements were unconstitutional and directly violated the Second Amendment. The District had previously required residents who had firearms in the home to keep them disassembled or bound with a trigger lock when stored, something the Court believed when against the entire purpose of having a firearm: for self-defense.

Stevens was one of the four dissenters. He was the one who actually wrote the dissenting opinion, arguing that firearm ownership had to be connected to militia service.

He reflected back on the decision saying, "The combination of its actual practical impact by increasing the use of guns in the country and also the legal reasoning, which I thought was totally unpersuasive, persuaded me that the case is just about as bad as any in my tenure."

According to Stevens, he did everything in this power to try to persuade others in the majority to understand his point-of-view, in hopes of getting them to switch their vote. He knew that it was likely that the others on the Court would side with gun owners so he sent around a draft of what would become his dissenting opinion five weeks before Justice Scalia drafted the majority opinion.

“I thought I should give it every effort to switch the case before it was too late,” he said.

Although Stevens' efforts failed, he was successful in getting Justice Anthony Kennedy to have Scalia make "important changes" to part of the majority opinion. 

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

The 2010 decision held that political spending is a protected form of speech under the First Amendment. Unions and corporations are allowed to influence voter opinions by supporting or opposing specific candidates, although they're not allowed to give directly to a political campaign. This was another 5-4 case.

“Money in politics — it’s hard to believe the extent of it,” Stevens said about the case.

Bush v. Gore

Stevens also believes it was a mistake for the Court to decide the president in 2000. The justices were tasked with settling a discount dispute in Florida 

“It was really a disgrace,” he told The Times. 


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; US: District of Columbia; US: Florida; US: New York; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 2000election; 2ndamendment; abortion; algore; banglist; bookreview; brettkavanaugh; citizensunited; dcvheller; districtofcolumbia; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; election2000; florida; georgewbush; johnpaulstevens; maga; mediawingofthednc; memoir; newyork; newyorkcity; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; nra; partisanmediashills; presstitutes; scotus; secondamendment; smearmachine; supremecourt; texas; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost
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1 posted on 11/26/2018 6:43:42 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The three biggest errors during his time on the bench?

1) John Roberts
2) Sonia Sotomayor
3) Elena Kagan


2 posted on 11/26/2018 6:46:06 PM PST by ssaftler (Beam me up, Scotty! The intelligence level of this planet is sinking by the minute.)
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To: Kaslin

May I say you are an embarrassment just-us Stevens.


3 posted on 11/26/2018 6:46:31 PM PST by rktman ( #My2nd! Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: Kaslin
“It was really a disgrace,” he told The Times.

No, Stevens, YOU are really a disgrace.

4 posted on 11/26/2018 6:46:42 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Kaslin

Stevens is an enemy of the Constitution, and of the fundamental rights of the American people, particularly the natural right to keep and bear arms.


5 posted on 11/26/2018 6:46:44 PM PST by backwoods-engineer (Enjoy the decline of the American empire.)
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To: Kaslin

Gerald Ford: “John Paul Stevens was my biggest mistake”.


6 posted on 11/26/2018 6:46:59 PM PST by mindburglar (I like spelling it Lazers. It looks cooler.)
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To: Kaslin

It’s good he is retired.


7 posted on 11/26/2018 6:47:33 PM PST by Louis Foxwell (The denial of the authority of God is the central plank of the Progressive movement.)
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To: Kaslin

Summary: The bad ones were the ones that protected people’s constitutional freedoms.


8 posted on 11/26/2018 6:47:38 PM PST by pepsi_junkie (Often wrong, but never in doubt!)
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To: Kaslin

What a disappointment.


9 posted on 11/26/2018 6:47:43 PM PST by ealgeone (SCRIPTURE DOES NOT CHANGE!)
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To: Kaslin
“It was really a disgrace,” he told The Times.

Typo. The quote is: “I was really a disgrace.”

10 posted on 11/26/2018 6:48:32 PM PST by FoxInSocks ("Hope is not a course of action." -- M. O'Neal, USMC)
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To: ssaftler

Not Notorious RBG?


11 posted on 11/26/2018 6:48:58 PM PST by Paladin2
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To: ssaftler
I disagree...

1. Kelo
2. Kelo
3. Kelo

12 posted on 11/26/2018 6:49:12 PM PST by DoodleBob
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To: Kaslin
Well color me stunned! Fortunately,this pig can't do any further harm to this country.
13 posted on 11/26/2018 6:50:46 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (I've Never Owned Slaves...You've Never Picked Cotton.End Of "Discussion".)
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To: Paladin2

RBG? Maybe 3b. However, when she’s awake, she’s mostly harmless these days. The other 3, however, will probably be writing law from the bench for the next 30 years.


14 posted on 11/26/2018 6:51:45 PM PST by ssaftler (Beam me up, Scotty! The intelligence level of this planet is sinking by the minute.)
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To: Kaslin
Can the good Justice explain to why not allowing Gore to rewrite Florida's election law after the fact was a mistake?

USA Today found that if the ballots were counted the way Gore wanted, he would have lost be a even greater margin.

Gore would have lost anyway, while Bush gets the blame.

15 posted on 11/26/2018 6:51:55 PM PST by Widget Jr
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To: Kaslin

Stevens confirmed what I long suspected. Kennedy was the source of the dicta that the lower courts have latched on to to limit the application of Heller.

Part III of the opinion was largely Kennedy being the limp wristed clown he is.

Stevens is a scum bag. He’s been railing against Heller since it was decided and consistently speaks out against it and the Second Amendment.


16 posted on 11/26/2018 6:52:05 PM PST by TexasGurl24
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To: Kaslin

Stevens is a profound leftist radical and these are probably three decisions that substantially preserved individual rights in the United States.

Its fascinating how the Left now regularly spends billions on elections— outspending the right— but still says its imperative to limit spending.

It makes no sense beyond the insatiable desire for govt control.


17 posted on 11/26/2018 6:52:22 PM PST by lonestar67 (America is exceptional)
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To: rktman

So Stevens is just a garden-variety Democrat, in all ways.


18 posted on 11/26/2018 6:53:11 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: Kaslin

I only read the excerpt but Stevens is the utter disgrace, not those decisions.


19 posted on 11/26/2018 6:53:19 PM PST by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man.)
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To: Kaslin
Similar situations:

President Trump elected with no prior political experience and a lot of common business sense.

Justices on Supreme Court need common sense without the experience as a lawyer or a judge.

20 posted on 11/26/2018 6:53:29 PM PST by Mark (Celebrities... is there anything they do not know? -Homer Simpson)
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