Justice Stevens: The Secret of His Success

Today's Post has an article by Charles Lane on Justice John Paul Stevens, about whom we've blogged a fair amount over the past few weeks. Rumors of his possible retirement from the Court continue to circulate (even if they are probably unfounded).

Much of the Post's article is an unexciting summary of Justice Stevens's jurisprudence. But near the end, we get to the good stuff:

According to family members and former law clerks, Stevens still writes the first draft of his opinions. He uses the Internet, studied French before a recent vacation in Europe and has become hooked on Sudoku number puzzles….

Stevens has survived prostate cancer. He had a single-bypass heart operation in the 1970s — which Susan Mullen described as “a real wake-up call.” Since then, he has followed a low-fat diet, eating only a grapefruit for lunch.

Today's paper also brings us this bit of service journalism, in the area of personal health:

[To maintain their brains, people should] regularly engage in mentally stimulating activities. These may involve doing logic puzzles like Sudoku, reading an entire newspaper daily or going to a museum — anything that takes you outside your normal range of thinking, said Elizabeth Edgerly, a clinical psychologist.

Message to Ann Coulter: there is no need to poison Justice Stevens's creme brulee (or grapefruit). Just sneak into the Supreme Court building, steal his sudoku book, and run away as fast as you can! JPS will be off the Court in no time — unless he sticks around watching soap operas all day, like Thurgood Marshall…

With Longevity on Court, Stevens's Center-Left Influence Has Grown [WP]
Preventive Maintenance For the Brain [WP]

Earlier: So What's Really Bothering Justice Stevens? Wonkette Contest Results, Part 2
So What's Really Bothering Justice Stevens? Wonkette Contest Results, Part 1
A Wonkette Reader Contest: So What's Really Bothering Justice Stevens?
When Ann Coulter Commits Voter Fraud, She Commits Voter Fraud, Dammit

READ MORE: John Paul Stevens, ann coulter, retirements, sudoku, supreme court, unverified rumors