Professor Amann Comments on Justice Stevens for CBA Record

Professor Diane Marie Amann, a former law clerk for retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, contributed an anecdote a collection of stories on the Justice in the September 2010 issue of CBA Record, a publication of the Chicago Bar Association.

In the anecdote, Justice Stevens stands up for an advocate who had been rebuked for referring to the Justices as "judges," noting that Article III of the Constitution also refers to them as judges. 

"I treasure this moment not because it exposes Stevens' knowledge of the Constitution-his legal acumen is beyond dispute-but rather because of what it says about Stevens as a person," writes Professor Amann.  "Humility, not haughtiness, has marked his career on the Court. The unwarranted rebukes of nervous advocates stirred his sympathy, yet did not erase his respect for his peers."

Diane Marie Amann is a Professor of Law and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall Research Scholar, and Director, California International Law Center at King Hall, UC Davis School of Law.