John Paul Stevens
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1975-2010
John Paul Stevens was born on April 20, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois. Stevens grew up in a wealthy family, his father owning the Stevens Hotel (now the Chicago Hilton). The Stevens lived near the University of Chicago campus and Stevens attended college there.
Stevens enlisted in the Navy during World War II. In his position as part of a Navy code-breaking team, Stevens earned the Bronze Star. Following the war, he followed his father's path and entered Northwestern University Law School to study law. Stevens was editor-in-chief of the school's law review and graduated with the highest grades in the law school's history. After graduating, he served a term as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Wiley Rutledge.
Stevens joined a prominent law firm in Chicago and created a reputation as a talented antitrust lawyer. His abilities in antitrust laws earned him positions with various special counsels to the House of Representatives and the U.S. Attorney General's office.
Stevens became known as fair-minded and able. President Richard Nixon appointed him to the Unites States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1970. When Justice William Douglas stepped down from the Court in 1975, President Gerald Ford nominated Stevens and the Senate confirmed Stevens' appointment without controversy.
As a justice, Stevens avoided simple conservative or liberal labels. As the Court moved toward the right during the Reagan and Bush presidencies, however, Stevens appeared more and more liberal relative to the make-up of the Court. a 2003 statistical analysis of Supreme Court voting patterns found Stevens the most liberal member of the Court He demonstrated considerable judicial restraint and deference to the Congress. Near the end of his service on the bench, as the Court turned further to the right with the appointments of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Stevens emerged as the voice of moderation on an increasingly conservative bench. Stevens retired in June 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest member of the Court and the third-longest serving justice in the Court's history.