Justice John Paul Stevens: And He's Telling You He's Not Going
Well, not in so many words. But in his interview last night with Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC News -- his first television appearance network television interview ever -- Justice John Paul Stevens seemed healthy, lucid, and far from death's door.
(Our apologies to the ConfirmThem crew. We hate to be the bearers of bad news.)
We did catch the interview last night. Twice, actually -- we watched the excerpt on World News Tonight, then the full version on Nightline. You can access a video clip of an abridged version by clicking here.
Our thoughts on the interview:
1. Justice Stevens gets style points for the turquoise paisley bowtie. Paisley is a fashion cliche here in D.C.; but JPS wears it in a "I don't care what you think" sort of way, which is great.
2. Negative style points for the brown plastic eyeglasses. Justice Stevens, you can do better. We know the Chief is always bitching about how little you guys get paid. But your most recent financial disclosure forms reveal that you're a millionaire. You can afford wire-framed glasses.
3. Throughout the interview, Justice Stevens is articulate and alert. Yes, his head is permanently stuck in a slight rightward tilt. But that's par for the course for old people. (JPS is 86 years old, turning 87 on April 20 of this year.)
4. Jan Crawford Greenburg is still a hottie. The reddish brown hair -- is that its natural color? -- is simply faboo. (Click here, then scroll down, for our exclusive photos of her.)
5. Justice Stevens reminisces about his late friend, President Gerald R. Ford, who appointed him to the Supreme Court. JPS describes Ford as "a fine lawyer" and " the kind of person I would really like to have as a friend, because you like him right away."
6. Greenburg asks whether President Ford was surprised by how Justice Stevens turned out as a SCOTUS jurist. Ford was a Republican, and JPS has turned out to be one of the Court's most liberal members.
Justice Stevens: Ford may have been surprised by "some of my decisions." But "over the years, I gather he was not unhappy with the results on the whole."
7. Greenburg questions JPS further about his ideology and jurisprudence. She notes that President Ford's attorney general, Edward Levi, described Justice Stevens as "a moderative conservative." She asks the justice: How do you see yourself today?
Justice Stevens says that he sees himself as a "moderate conservative." He adds: "I don't think I've really changed. I think there has been a lot of change on the Court."
8. The coup de grâce: near the end of the interview, Justice Stevens says: "I see myself as a conservative, to tell you the truth."
Okay, maybe the old man is losing it -- just a little bit.
Update: Orin Kerr's thoughts on point #8 appear here. Can Justice Stevens perhaps consider himself a "judicial conservative" (even if he's not a political conservative)?
Justice John Paul Stevens: The Silent Justice [ABC News (video)]
Justice Appointed By Ford Remembers the Late President [ABC News]
Is Justice Stevens a Judicial Conservative? [Volokh Conspiracy]
(7) Comments
"8. The coup de grâce: near the end of the interview, Justice Stevens says: "I see myself as a conservative, to tell you the truth."
Okay, maybe the old man is losing it -- just a little bit."
Or maybe the Conservatives of today are the wingnuts of JPS's time
He's not leavin' this Court alive.
Compare Nixon and Ford to Bush II & Co., and you'll realize that the right has moved right. The infamous NY Daily News headline notwithstanding, Ford kept NYC out of bankruptcy, while Bush and a Republican Congress couldn't even distribute homeland security funds proportionally to the threat. Nixon did really crazy shit that even a self-declared "socialist" nowadays wouldn't try, like wage and price controls. Nixon's main commonality with Bush is a tendency to grab power -- the imperial presidency is back.
He is losing a bit. Stevens originally was a moderate conservative who like the majority of the country supported capital punishment and was against affirmative action programs which gave a sizable preference based on skin color. He has now reversed positions on both of these issues.
I doubt in anyway that these positions are influenced by the Republican party or the Court's move to the right.
Stevens, where he admits to it or not has evolved in his positions, for better or worse and is now probably the most liberal Justice on the Court.
Would he also characterize Ginsburg as a moderate-conservative?
Could it be that he sees himself as politically conservative but doesn't let it influence his legal judgement?
"But in his interview last night with Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC News -- HIS FIRST TELEVISION APPEARANCE EVER -- Justice John Paul Stevens seemed healthy, lucid, and far from death's door."
Caveat: you don't define "television appearance." However, I believe you are incorrect. Just last summer I watched Justice Stevens on either Comcast Sports Net's or WGN's broadcast of a Chicago Cubs game. He "appeared" on "television" and was interviewed and spoke at length about his love of the Cubs and other matters. I call that a television appearance.
His situation is eerily similar to that in a song by Pearl Jam with the lyrics:
"I change by not changing at all"
No doubt he sees himself as a defender of private property too.