joining us now is linda greenhouse, a lecturer at yale law school. she s covered the supreme court for the new york times for all the best stuff from 1978 until 2008. ms. greenhouse, thanks very much for joining us tonight. i really appreciate you being here on short notice. oh, thanks for having me, rachel. obviously justice stevens was old. he was 99 years old. he was known to have suffered a stroke and had some other health problems so it s not biologically a shock that we are hearing this news, but it does feel shocking to know that he s gone just because of how large he looms in legal american culture. what s your top-line thought tonight about his passing? well, you know, his career on the court is a reminder of the way things used to be. that somebody like him could be appointed by a republican president without any particular ideological overhang. president ford assigned his
i wonder if you ever talked to him about those matters or if you know anything about whether he wrestled with that at all. well, he felt very, very strongly about these legal issues and these public issues, and any time you talked to him he was just brimming with ideas and insights. and he actually had a get-together of all of his former clerks just this past may to celebrate his 99th birthday, which was in april, and the publication of his wonderful memoir about his entire life, including in detail his time on the court. and you know, rachel, to your point, it was very interesting because at that gathering there was a question and answer session, and one of the clerks said justice, you care so much about the rule of law and the rule of law is under such attack and faces so many challenges these days and what can we do? and he looked out at all of us
the breaking news tonight, justice john paul stevens has died at the age of 99. joining us now is linda greenhouse, a lecturer at yale law school. she s covered the supreme court for the new york times for all the best stuff from 1978 until 2008. ms. greenhouse, thanks very much for joining us tonight. i really appreciate you being here on short notice. oh, thanks for having me, rachel. obviously justice stevens was old. he was 99 years old. he was known to have suffered a stroke and had some other health problems so it s not biologically a shock that we are hearing this news, but it does feel shocking to know that he s gone just because of how large he looms in legal american culture. what s your top-line thought tonight about his passing? well, you know, his career on the court is a reminder of the way things used to be. that somebody like him could be appointed by a republican president without any particular ideological overhang.
let me just ask you, cliff, i know that justice stevens, like a lot of supreme court justices, after they retired from the bench or even while they re still on the bench for older justices, sort of preside over a community of clerks. clerks who have served with them over the years, they stay in touch. i know that justice stevens went out of his way to host his clerks and to see people frequently, right up through this year. i wonder if in that community if he ever engaged with his former clerks and with his colleagues about his decision to maintain this public life that he did after his retirement. as linda was saying, writing multiple books, writing a book about suggested amendments to the constitution, write an op-ed in the new york times just last year in which he said people looking for gun reform in this country should seek a repeal of the second amendment. he made very pointed comments about president trump and his necessity in following the law in terms of complying with sub
and that is the perfect description because he was the rule of law justice, whether it was guantanamo, as linda greenhouse was just saying, and upholding the legal rights there, whether it was in his memorable and historic dissent in bush v. gore or in his decision in the paula jones versus bill clinton case, where he said, and it was controversial at the time for the court, that the litigation could proceed because the president is not above the law. he always stood for the for the rule of law and he was not a predictable player. with him one saw the supreme court at its best, which is the supreme court rising above predictable political partisanship, predictable political sides and standing for the majesty of the law. and one could go on and on in different fields of law, but his influence on the law