Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens never really put down his pen. Without opinions and dissents to write following his retirement from the Supreme Court in 2010, Stevens chose instead to write books from his home in Florida, reflecting on his life but also the Constitution.
Stevens, who died last week at 99 and will lie in repose at the court Monday, published his first book in retirement the year after he left the court. The memoir, "Five Chiefs," reflected on the five Supreme Court chief justices he had served under or known. A second book, "Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution," followed in 2014. And his most recent book, an autobiography, came out in May, just a month after his most recent birthday.
Stevens had been particularly outspoken recently on the topic of gun control. In "Six Amendments" he called for changing the Constitution's Second Amendment to permit gun control. Last year, after marches following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people died, Stevens wrote an essay for The New York Times calling not only for significant gun control legislation but also the Second Amendment's repeal .
Also last year he came out against Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation following Kavanaugh's angry denial of sexual assault allegations.
Other justices have chosen their own paths in retirement. A look at how the nation's three other retired Supreme Court justices have been spending their time:
ANTHONY KENNEDY
The Supreme Court's most recent retiree left the court a year ago this month. Kennedy, 82, said in stepping down that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Former clerks say Kennedy, a father of three and "Papa" to nine grandchildren, is an enthusiastic grandparent. He's attended his grandkids' T-ball games and ballet performances. He spoke at the high school graduations of two of his grandchildren and has talked about seeing "Hamilton" on Broadway with his grandchildren.
This summer, Kennedy taught at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law program in Austria, a practice of his for decades. He's taught in some capacity for the California school since 1965.
DAVID SOUTER
Souter never really liked Washington and quickly returned to his home state of New Hampshire after leaving the court in 2009.
Now 79, Souter was just shy of 70 when he retired and decided he wasn't quite done wearing his judicial robes. Before joining the Supreme Court, Souter had been a judge on the federal appeals court based in Boston, and he's served on the court regularly in retirement, hearing more than 400 cases.
SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR
The first woman to serve on the Supreme Court left the court in 2006 under unhappy circumstances. Her husband was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and O'Connor, then 75, retired in part to care for him. He died in 2009.
O'Connor, now 89, announced late last year that she too had been diagnosed with the beginning stages of dementia, probably Alzheimer's disease. O'Connor had stopped speaking publicly more than two years before the announcement, but for years she led an active retirement.
O'Connor returned to her home state of Arizona upon retiring and, like Souter, served as a visiting appeals court judge, hearing more than 175 cases and serving with all but two of the nation's 13 federal appeals courts.
Like Stevens, she also wrote in retirement, authoring a book of stories about Supreme Court history. She also founded iCivics, an organization that promotes civic education in schools.
Follow Jessica Gresko on Twitter at twitter.com/jessicagresko.
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TRUMP TRIAL OPENING-AP EXPLAINS — Opening statements in Donald Trump’s hush money trial set the stage for weeks of testimony about the former president’s personal life and places his legal troubles at the center of his closely contested campaign against President Joe Biden. An AP reporter debrief. Newsroom Ready and Consumer Ready edits.
BIDEN-EARTH DAY — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving households in low- and middle-income communities — while blasting Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. Newsroom Ready and Consumer Ready edits.
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TRUMP-HUSH-MONEY-MEDIA-BLOGS — With cameras not allowed at former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York, live news blogs are coming into their own as an important news tool. SENT: 710 words, photos.
TRUMP-HUSH MONEY — A longtime tabloid publisher is expected to tell jurors about his efforts to help Donald Trump stifle unflattering stories during the 2016 campaign as testimony resumes in the historic hush money trial of the former president. David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher, will be back on the stand Tuesday. SENT: 1,160 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: 1,200 words after trial resumes at 9:30 a.m.
ELECTION 2024-TRUMP-ELECTION INTERFERENCE — Donald Trump faces serious charges in two separate cases over whether he attempted to subvert the Constitution by overturning the results of a fair election. Yet it’s a New York case centered on payments to silence an adult film star that might provide the only legal reckoning this year. Some legal experts are dubious about attempting to tie a record-keeping case to manipulating an election. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-TRUMP-CAPITOL RIOT-THINGS TO KNOW — The core issue being debated before the Supreme Court on Thursday boils down to this: Whether a former president is immune from prosecution for actions taken while in office — and, if so, what is the extent of the immunity? SENT: 1,070 words, photo.
ELECTION 2024-PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania primaries on Tuesday will cement the lineup for a high-stakes U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are expected to win their presidential nominations easily. SENT: 890 words, photos. Polls close at 8 p.m.
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TRUMP-HUSH MONEY — Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. SENT: 1,270 words, photos, video. With TRUMP-HUSH MONEY-TAKEAWAYS — Opening statements provide a clear roadmap of how prosecutors will try to make the case that Trump broke the law, and how the defense plans to fight the charges.
BIDEN-EARTH DAY — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities — while criticizing Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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Former president Donald Trump, center, awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. Opening statements in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial are set to begin. Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories he thought might hurt his presidential campaign in 2016. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
