Two Visions of Justice

Next week, as the Senate begins hearings to confirm his successor, Justice John Paul Stevens will take his seat at the Supreme Court's bench for the last time. He will leave a Court that has shifted far to the right since he joined 35 years ago. Since Stevens joined the Court, virtually every subsequent appointee has been more conservative than the justice they replaced -- resulting in a conservative bloc of justices who consistently place powerful interests before the law, and a smaller, more moderate bloc that struggles to ensure that the law still applies equally to powerful and powerless alike. Both visions of the Court's role will be on display tonight at a debate between former acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger and former Bush assistant attorney general Rachel Brand. The event at George Washington University will be hosted by the Center for American Progress, the conservative American Action Forum, and Politico. Where are the courts headed? Today's Progress Report offers a few answers.