Stevens, Bush Nemesis on Court, Scoring Points at 86

[cal04]

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Stevens's tennis prowess underscores the vitality of the 86- year-old who is arguably President George W. Bush's chief judicial nemesis. Stevens's June majority opinion barring Bush's planned military tribunals for terror suspects was one of 27 opinions he wrote last term, more than any other justice.

``He is still very physically fit and extremely mentally sharp, obviously, from his opinions,'' said Stevens's daughter, Susan Mullen, a Virginia real-estate attorney who plays tennis with her father once a week -- and won't say how she fares.

Stevens and his colleagues took the bench today to open their new term and issue a list of orders in almost 2,000 cases. Over the next nine months, Stevens probably will seek to forge coalitions to back abortion rights and public-school affirmative action. In both cases, he'll have an uphill fight against a conservative wing of the court that has been strengthened by the addition of two Bush appointees.

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Bush v. Gore

Nowadays, Stevens is by some measures the most liberal member of the court. He and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were the only two justices to side unequivocally with Democratic nominee Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election fight. Two other dissenters, Stephen Breyer and David Souter, faulted the Florida courts for letting disputed ballots be judged under standards that weren't uniform.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aBvrcvt1U51I&refer=home

[yourout]

1. I hope he avoids small planes.

The USA needs him alive or the USA itself may die.