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Neither jet-lagged nor agitated, the justice is the model of cordiality and candor, wasting little time making his views known. When asked if the conservative-majority court is too radical, Stevens said, "Well I think some of the decisions are."

He is reminded of a dissent in an affirmative action case not long before his retirement last year, where he wrote, "No member of the court that I joined in 1975 would have agreed with today's decision." It was striking for him to conclude the court has changed that much. "I've thought about that, and perhaps people question the accuracy, but I'm really persuaded that's right, and I think it is," Stevens reflected.

"That suggests that you think the court has moved radically in recent years?" asked Toobin. "Well it has moved dramatically, that's right, and I guess a word like radical may well apply."

Stevens: Country moved to the right

Stevens' 35 years on the high court made him a multi-layered transitional figure-- the last of his World War II generation to serve on that bench, a longtime leader of the progressive minority on the court, and a justice whose views were criticized for betraying his Midwestern Republican roots.

Nominated to the federal appeals court in 1970 by President Richard Nixon and five years later to the high court by President Gerald Ford, Stevens says his views did not change over the years, but the court and the country did, moving to the right. The Republican Party of four decades ago, he admits, is no longer evident. (Lots more at http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/30/us/scotus-preview-stevens/index.html?hpt
=hp_bn3

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