Assembly Series, School of Law host former Supreme Court justice Stevens

Panel discussion on Second Amendment to follow address

John Paul Stevens
Stevens

John Paul Stevens, who served as a Supreme Court associate justice from 1975 to 2010, will give an Assembly Series lecture at 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, in Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis.

Following his brief remarks, titled “Some Thoughts about a Former Colleague,” Stevens will join in a discussion on the Second Amendment with David T. Konig, professor of law and professor of history in Arts & Sciences; Greg P. Magarian, professor of law; and Nancy Staudt, dean of the School of Law and the Howard & Caroline Cayne Professor of Law.

A Chicago native, Stevens graduated from the University of Chicago and served in the Navy as a code breaker during World War II, earning a Bronze Star. After the war, he earned his law degree from Northwestern University.

He first worked as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Wiley B. Rutledge Jr. Upon returning to Chicago, he entered the private sector as an antitrust lawyer and later started his own firm. In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed him to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; five years later, President Gerald Ford nominated him to the Supreme Court.

Stevens retired from the court in 2010, becoming the third-longest serving justice in the court’s history. Since then, he has written two books: “Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution” and “Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir.”

Stevens’ campus visit is also sponsored by the School of Law’s Public Interest Law and Policy Speakers Series. After the discussion, there will be a reception in Anheuser-Busch Hall’s Crowder Courtyard.

This is the final program for both the university’s Assembly Series and the School of Law speaker series for the spring semester; visit the sites for information on fall 2016 programming.

Leave a Comment

Comments and respectful dialogue are encouraged, but content will be moderated. Please, no personal attacks, obscenity or profanity, selling of commercial products, or endorsements of political candidates or positions. We reserve the right to remove any inappropriate comments. We also cannot address individual medical concerns or provide medical advice in this forum.