Who's on the Shortlist to Replace Justice Stevens?

This story was written by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Zaid Jilani, Igor Volsky, and Alex Seitz-Wald.

On Friday, Justice John Paul Stevens, the longest-serving Supreme Court justice on the bench, announced that he would retire at the end of the term. President Obama, who has been preparing for an additional court vacancy for some time, suggested that he would name Steven's replacement in a matter of weeks. "We cannot replace Justice Stevens' experience or wisdom," Obama said in a brief statement. "I'll seek someone in the coming weeks with similar qualities: an independent mind, a record of excellence and integrity, a fierce dedication to the rule of law and a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people. It will also be someone who, like Justice Stevens, knows that in democracy powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens." Stevens was a Republican named to the court in 1975 by President Gerald Ford and became the court's most liberal justice in the second half of his tenure, as the composition of the court grew more and more conservative. Obama described Stevens as a "brilliant, non-ideological, pragmatic" justice who "applied the Constitution and the laws of the land with fidelity and restraint." He said he hoped the Senate would make sure Stevens' successor is in place for the beginning of the court's new term in October.

STEVENS' LEGACY: In his more than three decades on the court, "Stevens leaves a legacy of defending abortion rights, expanding protection for gays, restricting the availability of the death penalty and ensuring a robust role for judges in interpreting the nation's laws and curbing executive power," the Washington Post notes. "He embraced affirmative action (after first questioning it); declared a belief that the death penalty is unconstitutional (after first voting to restore it); and supported protections for gays. He also defended abortion rights and opposed the notion that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to personal gun ownership." The decisions Stevens is likely to be remembered for most, however, are those he authored on national security and presidential power. He wrote the court's 5-3 decision "repudiating President Bush's assertion of unilateral executive power in setting up war crimes tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," and he authored the court's 6-3 decision allowing the Guantanamo detainees to challenge their detentions in the U.S. courts. In one of his least known decisions, Stevens convinced his fellow justices that "VCRs did not violate copyright laws when used in the home to make a single copy for personal use," refuting Hollywood's push to ban the devices and punish both the manufacturer and the home user with fines for copyright infringement. Stevens' 1992 decision in Quill v. North Dakota -- which held that Internet vendors "are free from state-imposed duties to collect sales and use taxes" -- paved the way for the massive growth of companies like Amazon.com and other Internet retailers. His 1997 ruling overturning the Communications Decency Act protected the Internet from broadcast-like regulations which would have made it a felony "for even a news organization to post certain four-letter expletives." "Replacing Justice Stevens is harder because Stevens plays so many critical roles on the current court: He's the leader of the liberal wing, the best opinion writer on the court and, simultaneously, the justice most able to build surprising coalitions," Douglas Kendall, head of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center, said. "When the justices vote in private conference, the senior justice speaks just after the chief justice. This has meant, especially in close, ideologically divisive cases, that Stevens has had a chance to counter the views of former chief justice William H. Rehnquist and current Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr."