The Making of a Justice: Reflections on My First 94 Years

by John Paul Stevens

Overview

A "timely and hugely important" memoir of Justice John Paul Stevens's life on the Supreme Court (New York Times).


When Justice John Paul Stevens retired from the Supreme Court of the United States in 2010, he left a legacy of service unequaled in the history of the Court. During his thirty-four-year tenure, Justice Stevens was a prolific writer, authoring more than 1000 opinions. In The Making of a Justice, he recounts his extraordinary life, offering an intimate and illuminating account of his service on the nation's highest court.


Appointed by President Gerald Ford and eventually retiring during President Obama's first term, Justice Stevens has been witness to, and an integral part of, landmark changes in American society during some of the most important Supreme Court decisions over the last four decades. With stories of growing up in Chicago, his work as a naval traffic analyst at Pearl Harbor during World War II, and his early days in private practice, The Making of a Justice is a warm and fascinating account of Justice Stevens's unique and transformative American life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316489645
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	05/14/2019
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.40(h) x 2.00(d)

About the Author

Justice John Paul Stevens served on U.S. Supreme Court from 1975 until his retirement in 2010. He is the third-longest serving Justice in American history. Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1920, Stevens served in the United States Navy during World War II and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law. He was appointed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 1970 by President Richard Nixon and to the Supreme Court in 1975 by Gerald Ford. He was the author of two other books, Five Chiefs and Six Amendments. Justice Stevens passed away in 2019.

Table of Contents

My First Ninety-Four Years 3

1 My Ancestors 5

2 Grammar School 9

3 FDR and Babe Ruth 17

4 The Armed Robbery 19

5 The World's Fair 23

6 Delavan, Wisconsin 27

7 The University of Chicago 31

8 Joining the Navy 35

9 Naval Service on Oahu 43

10 Law School 53

11 Law Clerk for Wiley Rutledge 61

12 The Poppenhusen Firm 69

13 The "Celler Committee" 75

14 The 1952 GOP Convention 81

15 Rothschild, Stevens & Barry 83

16 Pro Bono Work 93

17 Teaching Antitrust Law 97

18 People v. Isaacs 101

19 The Court of Appeals 107

20 Two Scandals 123

21 Taking the Oath of Office 133

22 The Stevens Court 135

October Term 1975-My First Term 135

October Term 1976 149

October Term 1977 157

October Term 1978 165

October Term 1979 171

October Term 1980 178

23 The O'Connor Court 185

October Term 1981 185

October Term 1982 190

October Term 1983 196

October Term 1984 207

October Term 1985 214

24 The Scalia Court 227

October Term 1986 227

25 The Kennedy Court 237

October Term 1987 237

October Term 1988 241

October Term 1989 250

26 The Souter Court 263

October Term 1990 263

27 The Thomas Court 273

October Term 1991 273

October Term 1992 283

28 The Ginsburg Court 291

October Term 1993 291

29 The Breyer Court 301

October Term 1994 301

October Term 1995 312

October Term 1996 319

October Term 1997 324

October Term 1998 337

October Term 1999 349

October Term 2000 358

October Term 2001 381

October Term 2002 395

October Term 2003 406

October Term 2004 426

30 The Roberts and Alito Courts 449

October Term 2005 449

October Term 2006 461

October Term 2007 473

October Term 2008 487

31 The Sotomayor Court 499

October Term 2009 499

32 The Kagan Court 521

October Term 2010 521

My Ninety-Fourth Birthday 529

Acknowledgments 533

Index 535

Editorial Reviews

06/03/2019

In this dense autobiography focused, except for a few brief opening chapters, on professional matters, former Supreme Court Justice Stevens revisits his 35-year tenure on the court, 1975–2010. This period saw significant shifts in the Court’s constitutional jurisprudence on gender and race discrimination, LGBTQ issues, the death penalty, campaign finance, the regulation of firearms, and affirmative action. While Stevens eschews a gossipy take on Court personalities, he is more than happy to take the gloves off when criticizing the opinions of other justices—he calls a 1985 William Rehnquist decision, on the police brutality case Oklahoma City v. Tuttle, “one of the worst opinions” decided during his term on the court—and instances in which he believes the Court has taken radically wrong turns, among them the rulings that hold the Second Amendment essentially prohibits gun regulation; the Court’s bar on state regulation of campaign finance; Bush v. Gore, which stopped the Florida vote recount in the 2000 presidential election; and a decision holding that there is no compelling state interest in maintaining racial diversity in public schools. Stevens explicates a dizzying number of decisions and often delves deeply into recondite areas of constitutional law. Dedicated court followers will find this rewarding, but readers without a legal background, and even some who with, will find this difficult to navigate. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Stevens delivers...on a handful of timely and hugely important themes, starting with the shape of American democracy...his defense crackles with spirit."—Emily Bazelon, New York Times

"Studded with cameos by boldface names...The new book lays out his philosophy through example, through cases and events that influenced his thinking."—Jess Bravin, Wall Street Journal

"A compelling look back at a fascinating life and career."—Mackenzie Dawson, New York Post

"Provides much food for thought for law students, lawyers and those interested in the legal underpinning of our present national mess."—Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun Times

"The inspiring legacy of Justice John Paul Stevens-including both the brilliance of his mind and the humaneness of his character-are well represented in his last book, The Making of a Justice." —New York Review of Books

"The memoir is a tale of a privileged childhood in Chicago, the ravages of the Great Depression and a family scandal, service as a wartime cryptologist and a charmed legal career as a Supreme Court clerk, appeals court judge and the third-longest-serving justice in the court's history."—Robert Barnes, The Washington Post

"To be 99 years old and still writing, in itself, merits acclaim. And a memoir by Justice John Paul Stevens, whose almost 35-year tenure on the U.S Supreme Court helped spur vast changes in American society, has indisputable historical value."—The Chicago Tribune

"Former Justice John Paul Stevens spent 35 years on the Supreme Court, writing some of its most important decisions. At age 99, he is still writing, including a new memoir, and weighing in on prominent U.S. issues today."—PBS Newshour

As featured in Bustle—Joseph D. Lyons, Bustle

"Stevens' illumination of the court's internal processes, accounts of cases, and often caustic opinions of its results form an important contribution to legal literature."
—Booklist

"The retired Supreme Court justice chronicles his impressive life story, including his 34-year tenure with the court...The author's consistently absorbing commentary on a wide variety of legal cases will require close attention by readers, but the payoff is worth it."—Kirkus

From the Publisher

2019-02-20

The retired Supreme Court justice chronicles his impressive life story, including his 34-year tenure with the court.

Born in 1920, Stevens (Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution, 2014, etc.) recounts his privileged upbringing, early law career, and lower-court experience before providing nearly 400 pages of year-by-year decision-making as a Supreme Court justice. A Republican appointed by President Gerald Ford, Stevens transcended the party ideology of many court colleagues in order to work together with those appointed by Democratic presidents. Despite the conventional wisdom of court chroniclers who identify justices as "conservative" or "liberal," the author's majority opinions and dissents cannot be easily pigeonholed. He candidly shares his thought processes on hundreds of cases, often openly criticizing his fellow justices for their lack of legal acumen and/or lack of compassion. Stevens is frequently critical of justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas for the refuge they have sought in the theory of originalism. Refreshingly, though, the author never attacks his fellow justices in a personal, gossipy manner, and he discusses his varying degrees of friendship with each of them. Stevens theorizes that the dynamics of the court—and the nature of the rulings—undergo transformation every time a new justice joins. As a result, the author presents brief sections about the immediate impact of each new justice during his 34 years, ending with his successor in 2010, Elena Kagan. Although Stevens reveres the court's reputation as a nonpartisan arbiter, he realizes that reputation has never fully recovered from the politically tinged 5-4 ruling in 2000 that handed the presidency to George W. Bush rather than Al Gore. The author also offers searing commentary on cases involving abortion rights, gun control, wrongful convictions in criminal courts, campaign finance, and many other ongoing societal issues.

The author's consistently absorbing commentary on a wide variety of legal cases will require close attention by readers, but the payoff is worth it.

Kirkus Reviews

As might be expected, the introduction delivered by the late Justice John Paul Stevens reveals some frailty, but hearing the voice of this judicial giant still gives a sense of the man. Taking over for the bulk of the audiobook, narrator Robert Petkoff does an outstanding job of making voluminous arcane legal considerations and machinations reasonably understandable and appealing. His professional narration experience is evident as he conveys energy, clarity, and engagement with the life of the justice, who before his retirement from the Supreme Court in 2010 wrote more than a thousand opinions. While Stevens’s privileged childhood, law degree studies at Northwestern, and personal/career development, as recounted in the earlier chapters, are fascinating, a great deal of the later chapters may appeal primarily to those with a distinct interest in American jurisprudence. Regardless, the audiobook is well narrated. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile

As might be expected, the introduction delivered by the late Justice John Paul Stevens reveals some frailty, but hearing the voice of this judicial giant still gives a sense of the man. Taking over for the bulk of the audiobook, narrator Robert Petkoff does an outstanding job of making voluminous arcane legal considerations and machinations reasonably understandable and appealing. His professional narration experience is evident as he conveys energy, clarity, and engagement with the life of the justice, who before his retirement from the Supreme Court in 2010 wrote more than a thousand opinions. While Stevens’s privileged childhood, law degree studies at Northwestern, and personal/career development, as recounted in the earlier chapters, are fascinating, a great deal of the later chapters may appeal primarily to those with a distinct interest in American jurisprudence. Regardless, the audiobook is well narrated. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2019 - AudioFile