Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Dies, Leaving Liberal Legacy

Retired Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens died Tuesday at the age of 99. Appointed in 1975 by Republican President Gerald Ford, Justice Stevens came to side with the Court’s liberal wing. He was known for his forceful dissent in the Heller case, which recognized an individual’s constitutional right to possess a firearm; his call to abolish the death penalty; and his scathing indictment of the Court’s opinion in Citizens United, writing that it “threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation.” Justice Stevens retired from the bench in 2010 at the age of 90. We’ll discuss his judicial legacy.