http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../w075007D89.DTL

Rehnquist's Death Puts Stevens in Charge
- By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, September 4, 2005

(09-04) 07:50 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

The death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist leaves the court's oldest member, 85-year-old liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, temporarily in charge.

The court operates on a strict seniority system, meaning that whenever the chief justice is absent the justice with the most years on the court takes over. Stevens, named to the high court by President Ford in 1975, also filled in for Rehnquist when the chief justice was absent from the bench for several months after announcing his cancer diagnosis last October.

Being chief justice, or acting as chief justice, means presiding during oral arguments, running the court's weekly meetings, assigning the writing of decisions and generally keeping the paperwork running smoothly. It is primarily an administrative job, but each chief justice also puts an ideological stamp on the court he leads.

The court is out of session until next month, so it is not clear how much of that work Stevens will carry out. If the court convenes Oct. 3 without a newly confirmed chief justice, Stevens will issue the traditional welcome that starts the court term. He would do so from his usual seat next to Rehnquist's. The chief's large, center seat would be empty and draped in black.

Stevens, although chosen for the court by a Republican president, has emerged as the court's most liberal member. That is due more to the court's gradual shift rightward under the leadership of the conservative Rehnquist than to changes in Stevens' own philosophy.

Small, acerbic and dapper in a bow tie, Stevens has a quiet and genial manner on and off the bench. He is less likely to badger lawyers who argue before the court than some of his colleagues, and often says little during oral arguments.

He speaks in public infrequently, and is not the constant presence at arts performances or charity functions frequented by some of his colleagues. He lives part-time in Florida, and spends his off-hours playing competitive duplicate bridge and tennis.


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