After Stevens

Jeffrey Toobin has an interview with Justice Stevens in the New Yorker: “Ever since last fall, when it emerged that Stevens had hired only one law clerk for the next year, instead of his customary four, there has been growing speculation that he will soon retire . . . With the election of Barack Obama, the question of Stevens’s retirement has become more pressing. Even though Stevens was appointed by a Republican President, many assume that he would never willingly have turned his seat over to George W. Bush. I asked Stevens about his plans. ‘Well, I still have my options open,’ he said. ‘When I decided to just hire one clerk, three of my four clerks last year said they’d work for me next year if I wanted them to. So I have my options still. And then I’ll have to decide soon.’ On March 8th, he told me that he would make up his mind in about a month.”