Make 'em bobble!

The Annotated Bobblehead Justice John Paul Stevens

No profile of Justice Stevens would be complete without some mention of the Chevron two-step -- his formula for judicial review of certain decisions by agencies of the federal government. Chevron v. NRDC, 467 U.S. 837 (1984).

The day after Justice Stevens delivered his opinion for the Court in PGA Tour v. Martin, 532 U.S. 661 (2001), Casey Martin signed a product endorsement deal with a prominent but now publicity shy golf club manufacturer. We have no idea what brand the Justice plays.

Daryl Atkins, a mentally retarded man, was convicted of the August 17, 1996, murder of Eric Nesbitt -- in part on the basis of a videotape of a related crime -- and sentenced to death. Ever since his partial dissent in Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302 (1989), Justice Stevens had been arguing that under the eighth amendment to the Constitution "death is not a suitable punishment for a mentally retarded criminal." In Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), he was able to express that belief for a majority of the Court.

Sony v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 417 (1984), is one of our favorite Stevens opinions, and not just because of its moving appreciation of the late Fred Rogers. The decision was a liberating moment in intellectual property law and the spread of popular culture in the late 20th century. The Justice is standing on a replica of the offending product owned by all of the individual named defendants in the case, the Betamax SL-7200.

John Paul Stevens, 1975-2010

John Paul Stevens was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1920 where his father was the principal owner and manager of the Stevens Hotel, the largest hotel in the world at the time. He attended the University of Chicago's Laboratory School for his K-12 education and the University of Chicago itself for his undergraduate education where he majored in English and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1941. After spending World War II at Pearl Harbor analyzing enemy radio traffic (he arrived after the attacks), Stevens returned to Chicago and attended Northwestern University Law School where he earned the highest grades in the law school's history. He later was a part-time faculty member at the University of Chicago and Northwestern law schools while practicing privately. He served on an anti-trust law committee for the Illinois attorney general and, in 1969, was general counsel in an investigation into the integrity of the Illinois Supreme Court. President Richard Nixon appointed him to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 1970. Five years later, President Gerald Ford nominated Stevens to replace William O. Douglas on the Supreme Court. Stevens was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.