July 16, 2019
Justice John Paul Stevens, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by Republican President Gerald Ford in 1975 in the wake of Watergate and stepped down almost 35 years later as a leader for the liberal side of the bench, has died. He was 99.

Stevens, known as a soft spoken midwesterner with a searing intellect, died on Tuesday of complications following a stroke he suffered on July 15, according to a statement from the Supreme Court. He passed away peacefully at Holy Cross Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with his daughters by his side, the court said.
Stevens was born in the South Side of Chicago in 1920 and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1941, and Northwestern Law School in 1947. In interviews, he shied away from questions concerning his legacy and always maintained that his ideology hadn't shifted during his years on the court.
On the bench, always with his trademark bow tie peaking over his judicial robes, Stevens would often wait until the latter half of an argument, lean forward with a polite, "May I ask" and then launch a razor sharp question cutting to the core of an advocate's case.
He retired in 2010 at 90 years old, clearing the way for President Barack Obama to nominate Justice Elena Kagan, then 50, to take his place.
"Thanks to Elena," he said in a speech in 2015 at the University of Miami Law Review Symposium, "I have never regretted my decision to retire."
Chief Justice John Roberts remembered Stevens on Tuesday as a public servant whose "unrelenting commitment to justice has left us a better nation."
"A son of the Midwest heartland and a veteran of World War II, Justice Stevens devoted his long life to public service, including 35 years on the Supreme Court," Roberts said in the statement from the court. "He brought to our bench an inimitable blend of kindness, humility, wisdom, and independence. His unrelenting commitment to justice has left us a better nation. We extend our deepest condolences to his children Elizabeth and Susan, and to his extended family."

Known for his biting dissents
Stevens, a craftsman for language, wrote powerful dissents when his views did not carry the day.
In Citizens United v. FEC, a campaign finance case in which the majority held that the government could not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections, Stevens did not mince his words. He accused the majority of rejecting the "common sense of the American people." After his retirement, he said the case should be overruled. "No doubt about it," he told an audience in 2015.
He also penned a dissent in Bush v. Gore, the controversial 2000 decision that halted a recount of Florida ballots and cleared the way for George W. Bush to take the presidency.
"Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election," Stevens wrote, "the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."
In a case concerning detainees at Guantanamo Bay in 2004, Stevens wrote the majority opinion holding that detainees could challenge their detainment in federal court.
Over his career, he voted to reaffirm the core holding of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion nationwide in 1973; voted in favor of an admissions policy at the University of Michigan Law School that took race into consideration; and he assigned an early gay rights opinion to Justice Anthony Kennedy, who, in turn, relied upon an earlier opinion by Stevens.

A long history of service
He served as a naval intelligence officer in World War II, and wrote a strong dissent in a 1989 decision that upheld a protestor's right to burn the American flag.
Although he voted to uphold the death penalty in 1976, near the end of his tenure in 2008 he said he had come to believe that the death penalty represented "the pointless and needless extinction of life with only marginal contributions to any discernible social or public purpose."
Because of his seniority, by 1994, Stevens had the authority to assign opinions when the chief justice was voting on the other side. Stevens, who also happened to be an accomplished bridge player, was a master tactician. He used his assigning authority strategically, sometimes taking on the big decisions himself, other times assigning them to a justice who might be wavering to bolster his or her vote.

An active retirement
No slacker in retirement, Stevens wrote books and essays while also appearing often in public for talks and speeches.
In March 2017, after a massive school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Stevens took the step of calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment.
In an op-ed for The New York Times he noted that he had been in dissent in a 2008 landmark opinion holding for the first time that an individual has a right to bear arms in the home and said the best way to overturn that decision was to repeal the Second Amendment.
"Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple and would do more to weaken the N.R.A.'s ability to stymie legislative debate and block constructive gun control legislation than any other available option," Stevens wrote.
In a 2007 interview with scholar Jeffrey Rosen for The New York Times Magazine, Stevens said that he considered himself a judicial conservative "who submerges his or her own views of sound policy to respect those decisions by the people who have authority to make them."
Earlier this year in an interview with CNN's John Berman, Stevens said he hoped President Donald Trump would not damage the nation's courts "too much."
But asked if he believed that Trump understood the role of the judiciary, Stevens responded flatly, "No."
"I think he often speaks about them as Obama judges and other kinds of judges," Stevens said. "But I think (Chief Justice) John Roberts was dead right when he said that there are only one kind of judges and they're all working for the federal government."
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.