80 Former Stevens Clerks Honor Their 'Best Boss' in Farewell
"You learned how to lead a good and honorable life, and a life in service to others," Justice Kagan said in a message to the former clerks of the late John Paul Stevens, who was honored Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court.
July 22, 2019 at 12:19 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
In a ritual only too recent for the current justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the flag-draped casket of one of their own—retired Justice John Paul Stevens—was carried Monday into the high court's Great Hall for a final farewell. Stevens died July 16 from complications of a stroke at age 99. His favorite sparring partner, Justice Antonin Scalia, preceded him in death just three years earlier. Stevens joined the court Dec. 19, 1975, and served nearly 35 years. He retired June 29, 2010, at age 90, the third-longest serving justice in the court's history. U.S. Supreme Court police carried Stevens's casket up the marble steps of the court building as 80 of his former law clerks stood on either side. Twelve of his former clerks served as honorary pall bearers. They were greeted at the top by Capt. Judy Malana, regional chaplain of the Naval District Washington who delivered the invocation in honor of "this great justice from the greatest generation." Inside the Great Hall, a portrait of the justice, painted in 1991 by James Ingwersen of Sister Bay, Wisconsin, was ringed by floral arrangements. The justice's trademark bow tie peaked out of his black robes. Stevens's family—two daughters, Elizabeth Sesemann and Susan Mullen, and their husbands; nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren—stood on one side of the casket, which rested atop the Lincoln Catafalque. Mullen is special counsel at Cooley in Reston, Virginia. Across from the family stood Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., with justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. Ashley Kavanaugh, wife of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, stood in for her husband. Kavanaugh and Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer had teaching or other commitments. Retired Justice David Souter was scheduled to attend Tuesday's private ceremony at Arlington Cemetery, where Stevens, a decorated Navy veteran, will be buried. Kagan, who succeeded Stevens upon his retirement, offered remarks at the request of the family. She spoke of the "enormity of [Stevens's] shoes and the impossibility of filling them." She called him a "brilliant man with extraordinary legal talents and a deep commitment to equal justice." Kagan added a special message to the justice's former clerks. "John Paul Stevens did not need a law clerk and many years he did not take his full complement," she said. "You all say he was the best boss you ever had, and you learned the most from him that year. You learned how to lead a good and honorable life, and a life in service to others." After the ceremony in the Great Hall, President Donald Trump and the First Lady paid their respects. The Great Hall was opened to the public at 10:30 a.m. Monday. Former law clerks will take turns standing vigil throughout the day and night. They include Judge Pamela Harris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Judge David Barron of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; Stewart Baker, partner at Steptoe & Johnson; former acting Obama-era U.S. Solicitor General Ian Gershengorn, partner at Jenner & Block; Nicholas Bagley of the University of Michigan Law School; Christopher Eisgruber, president of Princeton University; Lewis Liman, partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and a federal trial judge nominee; Deanne Maynard, partner in Morrison & Foerster; and Jeffrey Fisher of Stanford Law School. Writing at SCOTUSblog, Fisher said Stevens's "resolute commitment to searching and evenhanded decision-making was at least partly what has always inspired such fierce admiration among his law clerks." He added: "It was taken as a given in chambers that none of us could ever hope to live up to the justice's example. But we could try, when we engaged with the law, to emulate his model—or at least hope we absorbed as much of his aura as possible. What seemed merely second-nature to him has always been a gleaming ideal for all of us." As is tradition, a black drape hangs over the courtroom doors as a sign of respect and mourning following the death of a justice. |
Read more:
Former Stevens Clerks Tell Us Their Strongest Memories of 'One of a Kind' Mentor
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