Justice Stevens and Securities Law

Authors

Lyman P.Q. Johnson, Washington and Lee University School of LawFollow
Jason A. Cantone, Federal Judicial CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Law, Economics & Policy

Publication Date

2016

Abstract

In this Article, we tell the overlooked story of Justice Stevens's important role in Supreme Court securities law decisions. In Part I, where we briefly highlight Stevens's career before his 1975 appointment to the Supreme Court, we observe that we can identify no evident interest in or connection to federal securities law or the securities industry, making his contributions all the more remarkable. The only foreshadowing of his prolific opinion-writing on the subject of securities law was his voluminous writing of opinions, in general, while serving on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. This commitment to authoring opinions stemmed, in turn, from Stevens's unforgettable experience as general counsel to a special commission that investigated bribery on the Illinois Supreme Court in the late 1960s, as Part I relates.

Recommended Citation

Lyman Johnson & Jason A. Cantone, Justice Stevens and Securities Law, 12 J.L. Econ. & Pol'y 77 (2016).