Essay/Term paper: John paul stevens: biography

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Political Science

John Paul Stevens: Biography


John Paul Stevens, the 101st Justice to serve on the supreme court of
the United States, and the first appointed by President Gerald R. Ford. John
Paul Stevens became a member of the high court in December of 1975. Stevens, a
middle aged man, with a reputation as a sharp-minded, hardworking lawyer, and
first rate judge was given the highest evaluation from the American Bar
Association committee that examined his record. ³A superb judicial craftsman²
and a Judge¹s judge,² are two of the praises that Stevens has received from the
United States Court of Appeals.
Stevens was voted into the supreme court with a vote of 98-0. In that
time, Stevens was considered by the press, to be a moderate or moderate
conservative in his legal thinking, and would take sides with other justices
Powell, Stewart, and White.
John Paul was born on Apr. 20, 1920. Stevens, the youngest out of 4 sons,
Stevens was also considered to be the smartest of the 4 . At the age of six, his
brother Ernest Stevens noted to a New York Post reporter, ³I guess we always
knew he was going to make something of himself. He was always awfully
smart....When John was six, he could play better bridge then most adults today>²

Stevens attended the University of Chicago High School, and then later
went to the University its self. In 1941, he left the University with a Phi
Betta Kappa key, and a B.A. degree. He joined the navy, after the U.S entered
World War 2. Stevens was stationed in Washington D.C, as a intelligence officer
on the staff of admiral Chester W. Nimitz. He worked with a group assigned to
break Japanese codes. for doing this, he was awarded the Bronze Star. After he
returned to Chicago, (at the end of the war) he enrolled himself into
Northwestern University School of Law to earn his J.D. degree, where he
graduated first in his class. Not long after that, he was admitted into the
Order of the Coif and the Phi Delta Phi law society.
From 1947 to 48, Stevens spent the year as a clerk to supreme court
justice Wiley Rutledge. After that, he joined his first law firm, Poppenhausen,
Johnston, Thompson & Raymond. A Chicago based firm, that he was inducted to as
an Associate.
This was in 1948. With expert guidance from a Senior in the firm,
Stevens acquired the expertise in antitrust, that law, that stood him a good
stead during 51 and 52, for when he spent time on the Capitol in D.C as an
associate counsel of the house Judiciary committee¹s subcommittee on the study
of monopoly power and then from 1953 to 55 where he was a member of the
attorney generals national committee to study antitrust laws.
Finally on December of 1975, John Paul Stevens became Supreme Court
Justice John Paul Stevens where he served a lengthily term and ruled justly over
all of the cases placed before him.