Bookends: Justice Stevens and Justice Scalia

The great importance Justice John Paul Stevens attaches to his bonds with former colleagues has long shone through his words and actions. Anyone who knows Justice Stevens knows of his deep admiration for his former boss, Justice Wiley Rutledge, whose deep ties to Washington University Justice Stevens emphasized in his recent remarks here.\u27 During the year I had the privilege of serving as one of Justice Stevens\u27 law clerks, retired Chief Justice Warren Burger passed away. A few days after Chief Justice Burger\u27s death, Justice Stevens announced a decision from the bench. He revised his explanation of the majority\u27s reasoning to incorporate a key precedent authored by Chief Justice Burger, whom Justice Stevens made a point of honoring by name. Of the very few other American jurists who approach Justice Stevens\u27 achievements and renown, surely none ever wrote a first book that focused not on themselves or their views about the law but on other people. In Five Chiefs,2 Justice Stevens did just that, building his narrative around the five leaders of the Supreme Court, from Fred Vinson through John Roberts Jr., whom he knew as a law clerk, advocate, and justice