By Lisa Keen
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who turns 90 this month, announced April 9 he will retire from the high court at the end of June.
In a one-paragraph letter to President Obama today, Stevens said he had concluded that "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."
The potential impact of the retirement will be measured once President Obama nominates a replacement who is confirmed by the Senate.
But Stevens record on gay-related legal issues will be a difficult one for a nominee to measure up to.
For most of his tenure on the court, Stevens was a relative moderate who leaned liberal. When the high court majority voted, in 1986, to uphold state laws prohibiting same-sex sexual relations, in Bowers v. Hardwick, Stevens joined the dissent. But when the court voted one year later to allow the U.S. Olympic Committee to block the organizers of Gay Games from calling their event the Gay Olympics, Stevens voted with the majority.
But by 1991, after the court's true liberals – William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall – retired, Stevens became the liberal, relative to the increasingly conservative court.
Stupak, too
Also announced April 9 is the retiring of Michigan U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat who held Michigan's 1st Congressional District seat for almost two decades.
Stupak came under fire after his last-minute support of health care reform helped push the controversial bill into law. During his speech of support in the House, the anti-abortion Democrat was met with a shout of "Baby killer!" by a fellow representative, who later insisted that the comment was not directed at Stupak.
Since then, Tea Party members have rallied to try to oust Stupak from his seat because of the role he played in passing the health care legislation. Stupak, however, insists that their cries for his defeat in this year's election had no influence on his decision to call it quits after 18 years. Instead, he said he is tired and hopes to spend more time with family.
