Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Justice Stevens to retire from US Supreme Court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Justice John Paul Stevens of the US Supreme Court announced Friday that he plans to step down at the end of the court's 2009 term this summer. In a letter to President Barack Obama, Stevens wrote, "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." There had been much speculation about Stevens's possible retirement, and leading candidates for his replacement reportedly include Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appellate Judges Merrick Garland and Diane Wood. Stevens, 89, was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Gerald Ford and was seated in December 1975. He previously served on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Stevens is the court's oldest and most senior member and has served as the leader of the court's liberal bloc. His retirement gives Obama his second opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court justice, following last year's retirement of Justice David Souter and confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 09, 2010 (boomark / email).