Justice Stevens says he’ll decide soon on retiring

Associated Press
4/3/2010

WASHINGTON – Justice John Paul Stevens says he’ll decide soon about retiring — for his own peace of mind and to give President Barack Obama and the Senate plenty of time to replace him.

Stevens turns 90 this month and is the oldest justice. He tells The New York Times that he knows he must “fish or cut bait.”

But Stevens, who was named to the court by Republican President Gerald R. Ford in 1975, says he still loves the job, and says he continues to write the first draft of his own opinions.

Stevens says if it ever gets to point where he stopped doing that, it would be a sign he wasn’t up to the job anymore.

Stevens is the leader of the court’s liberals. His retirement would give Obama his second Supreme Court pick.

UPDATE: Justice Stevens says he’ll retire in Obama’s term

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says he “will surely” retire while President Barack Obama is still in office, giving the president the opportunity to maintain the high court’s ideological balance.

Stevens said in newspaper interviews on the Web Saturday that he will decide soon on the timing of his retirement, whether it will be this year or next. Stevens, the leader of the court’s liberals, turns 90 this month and is the oldest justice.

His departure would give Obama his second nomination to the court, enabling him to ensure there would continue to be at least four liberal-leaning justices. The high court is often split 5 to 4 on major cases, with the vote of moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy often deciding which side prevails.

“I will surely do it while he’s still president,” Stevens told The Washington Post.

The article continues at AOL News.

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