President Barack Obama awarded a Medal of Freedom to retired Justice John Paul Stevens at a White House ceremony Tuesday. Stevens was one of three Medal of Freedom recipients of special interest to the legal community, among the 13 individuals honored.
In giving the award to Stevens, Obama recalled his style of questioning during oral argument. Stevens would politely ask the lawyer if he could interrupt, said Obama, and then would ask a penetrating question that would force the advocate to “stop dancing around” and focus on the core issues of the case. Obama praised Stevens for decisions protecting individual rights, and for favoring pragmatic, rather than ideological solutions to the cases before him. Stevens, 92, served on the high court from 1975 to 2010.
