Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — Reti- red Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said it is appropriate for justices to take the political climate into account when thinking about retirement.
“I think so,” Stevens said when asked by George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” whether it is acceptable to consider politics in such a decision.
“It’s an appropriate thing to think about your successor,” said Stevens, who retired in 2010 and was replaced by Justice Elena Kagan. He cited former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said in a new book that he was concerned about his successor.
Stevens, 94, said he did not take politics into account when he retired.
“It was concern about my own health,” he said.
