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Justice John Paul Stevens Stood Up For Female Clerks At The Supreme Court

The late justice always treated people with respect.

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Justice John Paul Stevens (Photo by Allison Shelley/Getty Images)

Thank you for taking your turn with the coffee. I think it’s my turn now.

— Justice John Paul Stevens, during a party for new Supreme Court clerks in the early 90s, after seeing that one of the few female clerks present had been tasked with serving coffee to guests. Prior to Justice Stevens’s arrival, an “older male justice” had assigned the female clerk to coffee duty. Justice Stevens took over the job. Christopher L. Eisgruber, a former SCOTUS clerk who now serves as the president of Princeton University, described this incident in a 1993 essay.

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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