When Ford Nominated John Paul Stevens

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    On the high bench, Stevens is expected to join Lewis Powell, Byron White and Potter Stewart as a potential "swing" vote. But Stevens' added centrist vote is likely to be less important to the character of the Burger Court than his legal craftsmanship. "He writes well and clearly and invitingly," says Chicago Attorney Albert Jenner, a former chairman of the A.B.A.'s federal judiciary committee. The University of Chicago's constitutional expert, Philip Kurland, who has criticized the present court for loose writing and reasoning, agrees. "The closest parallel to Stevens I can think of is John Marshall Harlan," says Kurland, referring to the tightly reasoned, legally principled decisions of the distinguished New York justice who sat on the high court from 1955 to 1971. Admired even by lawyers who lose in his court, Stevens is expected to have no trouble in Senate confirmation hearings, which start next week.

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