WASHINGTON — Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who
served on the court for nearly 35 years, died July 16 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
at age 99 after suffering complications from a stroke the previous day.
The justice, who retired in 2010, remained active after
retirement, even writing his autobiography, "The Making of a Justice: My
First 94 Years," which was just released in April. Last year, he wrote an
op-ed published in The New York Times calling for action to end gun violence.
"He brought to our bench an inimitable blend of kindness,
humility, wisdom and independence. His unrelenting commitment to justice has
left us a better nation," Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement.
Stevens was often portrayed as the leader of the court's liberal
side, but he didn't stand by that description, telling The New York Times in
2007: "I don't think of myself as a liberal at all. I think as part of my
general politics, I'm pretty darn conservative."
The justice, a Chicago-born Protestant who served as a naval
intelligence officer during World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star for his
work with a codebreaking team, stood firm on many issues and changed his
opinion on others during his time on the high court. Most notably, he changed
his views on the death penalty from initially supporting it to renouncing it
completely.
He was known as a defender of strict separation of church and
state and was against official prayer in schools and vouchers for religious
school tuition. He also defended legal abortion, gay rights, and the rights of
crime suspects and immigrants in the country without legal documentation facing
deportation.
Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille, who is
a longtime opponent of capital punishment, posted a thread of tweets July 16
after the announcement of Stevens' death outlining his opinion on the death
penalty over the years.
She said he voted with the court's majority in a 1976 case that
reinstated the death penalty nationwide after a four-year moratorium and after
his retirement he said this was the only vote he regretted.
In a 2008 death penalty case, he wrote that he had come to
believe the death penalty was unconstitutional. Prior to that, in 2002, he
wrote the decision in Atkins v. Virginia, which ended the death penalty for
people with intellectual disabilities, and in 2005, he voted to do away with
the death penalty for juvenile offenders.
He also spoke publicly against the death penalty in a number of
interviews, calling it a "wasteful enterprise" in 2016 and something
the U.S. should do away with under all circumstances in 2010.
In a 2014 interview on the "PBS NewsHour," he said he
thought the court had made a grave mistake in formulating rules that
"slant the opportunity for justice in favor of the prosecutor" in
death penalty cases, especially when "the cost is so high if you make a
mistake."
"If you make a mistake in a capital case, there's no way to
take care of it later on. The risk of an incorrect execution in any case, to
me, is really intolerable. The system should not permit that possibility to
exist," he said.
Similarly, in 2005, he also told the American Bar Association
that recent evidence that "a substantial number of death sentences have
been imposed erroneously" was "profoundly significant because it
indicates that there must be serious flaws in our administration of criminal
justice."
In an abortion case in 1989, he was the only justice to say that
a Missouri statute declaring that life begins at conception violated previous
court decisions on abortion and was an "unequivocal endorsement of a
religious tenet" that "serves no identifiable secular purpose."
In 1992, he voted to uphold the right to an abortion in Planned
Parenthood v. Casey, which also established the "undue burden"
standard for abortion restrictions.
Justice Elena Kagan filled Stevens' seat on the court.
He is survived by two daughters, nine grandchildren and 13
great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending, the Supreme Court said
in a statement announcing his death. He is expected to be buried in Arlington
National Cemetery.