Justice Stevens will not be easily replaced

[Robert Sheridan]

His daughter may be an Episcopal priest but that doesn't necessarily 
mean, given a non-Jewish wife for the justice, that he converted, 
regardless of where he may spend time on the weekend. Some folks like to 
be where their family is and to encourage them, regardless of belief.

Renz, Jeff wrote:
>
> Correct me here—Thomas was raised Catholic but now attends Protestant 
> church, right? Breyer, raised Jewish but converted? (His daughter is 
> an Episcopal priest.)
>
> Prof. Jeffrey T. Renz
>
> School of Law
>
> The University of Montana
>
> 32 Campus Drive
>
> Missoula, Montana 59812
>
> 406-243-5127
>
> *From:* Walsh, Kevin [mailto:kwalsh at richmond.edu]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 21, 2010 7:27 PM
> *To:* Hamilton02 at aol.com; SLevinson at law.utexas.edu; Renz, Jeff; 
> conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu
> *Subject:* RE: Justice Stevens will not be easily replaced
>
> In what way is Justice Stevens’s religious identity as a Protestant 
> “meaningful”? (Has it ever been?) And might there not be “meaningful 
> religious diversity” among the Catholics on the Court? Among the more 
> religious and less religious (whether Catholic or Jewish)?
>
> Kevin
>
> *From:* conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu 
> [mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] *On Behalf Of 
> *Hamilton02 at aol.com
> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 21, 2010 8:08 PM
> *To:* SLevinson at law.utexas.edu; Jeff.Renz at mso.umt.edu; 
> conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu
> *Subject:* Re: Justice Stevens will not be easily replaced
>
> In the event this has yet to be noted,f and I apologize if so, there 
> is also no meaningful religious diversity on the Court following 
> Justice Stevens' retirement -- six Catholics and two who are Jewish. 
> He is the only remaining Protestant on the Court.
>
> Marci
>
> In a message dated 4/21/2010 8:04:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
> SLevinson at law.utexas.edu writes:
>
>     I also note that Breyer is the one and only member of the Court
>     who actually has affirmative regard for Congress, because he was
>     Chief Counsel (I believe) of the Senate Judiciary Committee for a
>     while in the 1970s. The rest of the Court, I believe, has either
>     active disdain or polite indifference (perhaps depending on
>     whether they worked in the Executive Branch and learned to view
>     Congress as an obstreperous bunch of clowns).
>
>     In any event, I agree with Jeff that we have a stunningly
>     non-diverse Court if we define "diversity" in any way other than
>     race or gender.
>
>     sandy
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu
>     [mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Renz, Jeff
>     Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 6:00 PM
>     To: conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu
>     Subject: Justice Stevens will not be easily replaced
>
>     You are all to kind to the court.
>
>     Stevens will not be easily replaced because he is one of the few
>     judges on the court with meaningful life experience. Only Alito
>     and Breyer served on active duty in the armed services. Alito on a
>     six-month stint for Signal Corps Officer Basic Course (go to
>     class--finish class--go to the officers club pool, except on the
>     days that your class is in the field.) Breyer, to his credit,
>     served 6 months as an enlisted member.
>
>     Of the eight justices remaining after Stevens retires, four
>     attended private high schools. All attended private universities.
>     All attended private law schools.
>
>     This is not the sort of heterogeneous group that provides
>     collective wisdom. This is not the sort of background that
>     necessarily leads to a wise judge. Of the sitting court, only
>     Thomas and Sotomayor, in my opinion, have the background that
>     lends itself to the development of wisdom to make decisions that
>     affect millions of their fellow citizens. Sadly, I think Thomas's
>     life experience has been trumped by Thomas's bitterness. (I also
>     give Breyer credit because he performed menial work while in
>     college, despite coming from an upper-middle class background.)
>
>     Prof. Jeffrey T. Renz
>     School of Law
>     The University of Montana
>     32 Campus Drive
>     Missoula, Montana 59812
>     406-243-5127
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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