Random Supreme Court Justice Stuff

Okay, so last week at work Kim told us that Stevens was considering stepping down from the Supreme Court.

My reaction: "No Way! That can't be true. I heard there was an unwritten ("common law") rule* that you have to step down during the presidency of the party that nominates you."

Wait, but what? Stevens was nominated by Gerald Ford (R)?!?! It's true. Look at his bio. Or his bio. Or, article. ("He uses the Internet, studied French before a recent vacation in Europe and has become hooked on Sudoku number puzzles.") (me + him = twins!) I mean, I knew all about the famous Republican Governor of California who turned liberal on the bench. But Stevens? (The bow tie man). Gosh, all this time and I had no idea. I feel so stupid. Talk about assuming a person's political biases.

I'm not sure what made me want to randomly blog about this especially since this is "old news" (as opposed to "hot news" which is a copyright case). Actually, that's probably why I *am* blogging about this...because we all know blogging is the best procrastination tool...and i have a memo that I should be working on.

* Kinda like the "Rule of Four" - if three justices decide to grant certiori (you need 4), then usually a four will grant it. If anyone else has heard of these unwritten rules or knows of more rules, let me know. Who knows? Maybe I'm just making them up or listening to the gossip pipes in the law school - b/c law students are cool like that & gossip about Supreme Court tenure. If they are true (or, even as urban myths) I find them to be interesting, especially given my (obvious) lack of knowledge of most Supreme Court history.