STEVENS, JOHN PAUL

born April 20, 1920, Chicago associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (from 1975). Stevens was admitted to the bar in 1947 and served as a clerk for Justice Wiley B. Rutledge before joining a Chicago law firm to specialize in antitrust law. He also taught and served on various public commissions. In 1970 he was appointed circuit judge of the Court of Appeals of the seventh circuit by President Richard M. Nixon and gained a reputation for his legal attainments. He was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Gerald R. Ford in 1975 to fill the seat of William O. Douglas. Stevens was an independently minded justice who occupied a centrist position on the Court.