Miscellaneous

The Stevens Pool

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Aren't you glad you're not a Supreme Court justice? The minute you turn 90-ish and whisper thoughts of retirement, the wonks of the world start thinking about your successors. They compile lists, argue about religion, and pull out their extra-special SCOTUS crystal balls. Nobody's making the poor guy a cake or planning a party. With all the fuss, you'd think they went and changed Scrabble or something. Hey, don't let those enormous Supreme Court doors hit you on the way out!

Nevertheless, it is hard to ignore the ramifications of Justice Stevens's impending exit from the bench. NPR's Nina Totenberg ponders the religion of Supreme Court justices. There are now more devout Catholics on the bench than there are in most pews these days. Moreoever, Justice Stevens is a minority -- he's the only white Protestant male on our high court. See Supreme Court May Soon Lack Protestant Justices, Nina Totenberg, NPR (April 7, 2010).

Meanwhile, dahling Dahlia Lithwick goes all Levi-Strauss on the issue. See Short Shrift: The Supreme Court Shortlist as Political Anthropology, Dahlia Lithwick, Slate (April 5, 2010).

And, TV star Jeffrey Toobin explains that Justice Stevens is verrrry old. See After Stevens, Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker (March 22, 2010).

For our part, we like to remind the world that Justice Stevens was a Ford appointee. Why is that important? Well, it means that Ford did actually do something that had a lasting impression. It also means this: ya never know. Take that, all you Kreskinesque commentators!

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on April 07, 2010 (boomark / email).