U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, a one-time centrist maverick who became a powerful leader of the Court’s liberal wing, announced his retirement on April 9, just 11 days short of his 90th birthday. When Stevens departs at the end of the current term in late June or early July, he will have been one of the oldest and longest-serving justices in American history, appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975, and the last justice with World War II service.

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