john paul stevens, while a practicing lawyer, i think while a judge on the seventh circuit had not only taught at the university of chicago our school, but taught prelaw, perhaps with edward leavy. john paul stevens was appointed to replace william douglas. in one of these intriguing ironies, william douglass taught edward leavy, at least, perhaps gerald ford at yale law school. william douglas is the person who strongly recommended edward leavy for appointment to the faculty at the university of chicago when there were very few positions for jewish law professors. when edward leavy came into office, he knew that william o douglas was very frail. there were four and then five of us who were his special assistance. we are all under 30. two had been first in their class at harvard law school. for justice lewis powell, and he gave each of us a sitting judge to read their opinions and to advise them on, you know whether they would make good justices. i got william webster, who later became director of fbi and cia and was always too busy to get started on the project, which is fortunate beca

when john paul stevens his announced his retirement he nominated elaina kag ax n for the seat on supremepresident obama has so far had two. one big, sometimes awkward question that lingered over the final two years of his presidency is whether he will get another pick as well. the oldest serving member of the supreme court is ruth bader ginsburg. she is 81. she was appointed by bill clinton in 1993 after a career that included find founding the women's rights movement in the aclu. all the speculation when it comes to ruth bader ginsburg is how much longer does she intend to serve? when you look at ruth bader ginsburg this that way, as 81 years old, somebody that survived a number of health scares including more than one bout with cancer it seems like a logical question to ask and then you hear her speak and hear her opinions on the latest discussions before the supreme court, yeah 81 years of age but ruth bader ginsburg is not only on top of her game but maybe at the height of her game right now. my colleague sat down with her at the supreme court which itself is a fete. and what she got

sonia sotomayor was president obama's first supreme court appointment, but not his last, when john paul stevensannounced his retirement, he appointed elena kagan. some don't even get one appoint appointment. president obama has so far had two, and one big question that has linkersger whether or not he will get another pick as well. the oldest serving member is ruth bader ginsburg. she founded the women's rights project at the aclu. she was the second woman to serve on the supreme court. and all of the speculation is how much longer does she intend to serve. the is 81 years old, survived a number of health cares, it seems like a logical question to ask. then you hear her speak, you hear her opinions, 81 but she is not only still on top of her game, she might be at the height of her game right now. my msnbc colleague sat down with ruth bader ginsburg sat down with her, and justices do not sit down for many interviews. and what she got was a wide ranging fascinating interview that included the question how much longer do you intend to keep doing this? >> i know you have no intention of retiring co

justice john paul stevens: he had an army of stories that he would tell. partly because he'd had so much experience himself. he was really a profoundly gifted raconteur. narrator: the murray case made marshall a rising star in the naacp, but his preoccupation with civil rights left him with a failing law practice inhis tiny baltimore office - cluttered with unpaid bills. when he wrote houston for help, houston asked him to come to new york to work a temporary assignment in the national naacp office. and in october of 1936, thurgood and buster left his crowded family home in baltimore for new york city. when thurgood and buster first arrived in new york, they stayed with relatives until they found a small apartment in harlem. they would now be alone and on their own for the very first time. inan office across town the naacp was still basking in the glow of their first victory integrating the university of maryland law school - which energized houston's education strategy and gave it momentum. marshall would now share a second floor office with houston to he

about a year later when supreme court justice john paul stevens announced his retirement president obamaominated former solicitor general alain na kagan. some presidents don't get one supreme court appointment during their time in office. president obama has so far had two and one big sometimes awkward question that has lingered over the final two years of his presidency is whether he's going to get another pick as well. the oldest serving member of the u.s. supreme court right now is ruth bader ginsburg. she is 81 years old. she was appointed by bill clinton in 1993 after a career that included founding the weapon's rights project at the ac will you. she was the second woman ever to serve on the supreme court after sandra day o'connor. and all of the speculation, all of the time now when it comes to ruth bader ginsburg is how much longer does she intend to serve? and when you look at ruth bader ginsburg in that way, as 81 years old, somebody who survived a number of health scarce over the years, it seems like a logical question to ask. but then you hear her speak. and then you look at h