Stevens' exit sets up court battle

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement Friday, setting up a long-anticipated confirmation battle during the most sensitive of political seasons.

Stevens, who turns 90 on April 20, said that after 34 years on the court, it was time to step down.

"It would be in the best interests of the court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the court's next term," he said in a letter to President Obama.

Obama, who learned the news while aboard Air Force One returning from the nuclear-treaty signing in Prague, said he "will move quickly in coming weeks" to nominate a successor.

The president, who spoke with Stevens by phone Friday afternoon, further said he would seek a nominee "with similar qualities: an independent mind, a record of excellence and integrity, a fierce dedication to the rule of law, and a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people."

Like Stevens, Obama said, his choice will work to ensure that "powerful interests" are held in check when necessary.

Stevens' departure, effective when the 2009-10 term ends in late June, will remove from the court its most senior justice and linchpin of what is now the liberal wing. His retirement also will ensure that the Supreme Court is front and center during the coming midterm congressional elections.

For conservatives and liberals alike, the pending court vacancy will be a way to mobilize the troops and wage proxy fights over hot-button issues, including abortion and wartime security.

For Obama, the vacancy provides a challenge and an opportunity.

Republicans are eager to unite around an issue that will engage their conservative base. Obama's Democratic Party controls 59 seats in the Senate, one short of the number that is needed to stop a filibuster. In a break with tradition, some senators have signaled that they would not be reluctant to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee.

Stevens' departure also gives Obama a second chance to shape the court with a relatively young justice who will be interpreting the Constitution for several decades. Because of Stevens' relatively left-of-center position, his successor may not tip the court's overall ideological balance.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D., Vt.), whose committee will conduct the nominee's confirmation hearing, said, "I hope that senators on both sides of the aisle will make this process a thoughtful and civil discourse."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) cautioned, "Americans can expect Senate Republicans to make a sustained and vigorous case for judicial restraint and the fundamental importance of an evenhanded reading of the law."

The experience of Obama's first court pick, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, may foreshadow the political conflict to come. Thirty-one Republicans opposed her last summer, including some who had traditionally crossed party lines to approve Democratic choices in the past. Nine Republicans voted for Sotomayor.

"Given the track record of the Senate Republicans, anybody Obama supports is going to be attacked," said Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California San Diego. "They're geared up for battle."

Having named Sotomayor as the first Hispanic justice on the court, Obama now could make more history.

The nine-member court has never had more than two women serving at a time. Obama can change that if he nominates a woman to join Sotomayor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Several possibilities exist.

A serious contender is Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the first woman to hold that prestigious post and previously the first female dean of Harvard Law School. Judge Diane Wood, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, was considered seriously for last year's vacancy and knows Obama from their teaching days at the University of Chicago Law School.

He might name a second Hispanic justice, Judge Kim Wardlaw of the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit appeals court. And Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm comes from the non-appellate world, which Obama has said he would like to make use of.

Alternatively, he might try to name the court's first Asian American. Although only seven Asian Americans are serving on the federal bench, Obama could search elsewhere; for instance, by tapping his top State Department lawyer, former Yale Law School dean Harold Koh.

Or perhaps Washington-based Appellate Judge Merrick Garland's experience as a federal prosecutor may give him the nod as a comparatively moderate choice.

"They are choosing from a short list of people who are spectacularly qualified, and who share the president's view of the Constitution," Princeton University provost Christopher Eisgruber, the author of The Next Justice, said in an interview, "but the president is still going to have a fight on his hands."

Currently, only six of Obama's 15 appellate court nominees have been confirmed.

Stevens' retirement wasn't unexpected. He had hired only one law clerk for next year, instead of the customary four. He would have had to serve roughly another year to become either the oldest or longest-serving justice.

The longest-serving will remain William O. Douglas, whose seat Stevens took after President Gerald R. Ford nominated him in 1975.

Stevens then was serving on the Seventh Circuit court. He was deemed a conventionally moderate Midwestern Republican at the time.

Stevens "has earned the gratitude and admiration of the American people for his nearly 40 years of distinguished service to the judiciary, including more than 34 years on the Supreme Court," Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Friday. "He has enriched the lives of everyone at the court through his intellect, independence, and warm grace."

"He has worn the judicial robe with honor and humility." - President Obama

"He saw how the law shapes the lives of ordinary people in real and practical ways, and he talked about and explained the law in ways that made sense to all Americans."

- Vice President Biden

"Justice Stevens' unique and enduring perspective is irreplaceable; his stalwart adherence to the rule of law is unparalleled."

- Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D., Vt.)

"He is a remarkably dedicated public servant and a profoundly decent human being."

- Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R., Utah), Judiciary member

"He has enriched the lives of everyone at the court through his intellect, independence, and warm grace."

- Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

"I shall miss his brilliance, and his companionship."

- Justice Antonin Scalia

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