There is maybe only one thing in the world I get more geeked about than the Supreme Court and that's esoteric celebrations commemorating important dates in the lives of the semi-famous. Thank you, Justice Stevens' 90th birthday, for combining my two loves into one utterly pointless day of tribute. Its been a blast.
Going into this project, I've tried to make note of the important dates as I've hit them. I did something Valentine's-ish for Valentine's Day. I celebrated Paczki Day down in Hamtramck. Things like that. Among the holidays celebrated by the American subculture is 4/20, but for anyone who knows just how they celebrate, you'll probably understand why I chose not to participate.
Having grown up understanding 4/20 to be a super-duper special day, you know, for those who can remember it, I assumed there was some amazing history behind the date. Indeed there is. One can only speculate the extent to which the enthralling 1885 journey of Thomas Bland Strange from Calgary toward Fort Edmonton with his 600 men could've had on the young stoner population of the country. I assume that event is the reason for their celebration. Next year I shall have to conduct interviews to be sure.
Flash forward to 1920. Little could the doctors in that fateful Chicago delivery room know it, but they had just helped birth a future Supreme Court justice. Stephens grew up in the mid-west, got his degree at the University of Chicago and his JD at Northwestern. He enlisted in the navy during World War II, rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and earned himself a Bronze Star. He earned it for cracking a Japanese military code that led the US to a high level target. Just thought I would throw that in, in case anyone thought he was a grunt. He was pretty much always a brainiac.
In the 35 years he's been on the court, he's written scathing dissents and thoroughly reasoned majority opinions. Most relevant to our lives, of course, is the case of Bard v. de Vere. I'm referring, of course, to his Oxfordian philosophy. In perhaps the only opinion he shares with Antonin Scalia, Stephens does not believe that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's plays, instead attributing them to Edward de Vere. Whoever that is.
Oh. It's this guy.
I wanted to take a minute and share a little about a life well lived today. I sometimes wonder why people whose influence alters the course of our lives are less interesting to us than the terminally vapid. In any case, with Stephens retiring and turning 90 in the same year, some folks other than me caught the semi-famous birthday tribute bug. Anyone joining their little shindig could do so from the comfort of their normal lives by popping on a bow tie.
How random.
I got asked about the bow tie several times once I left the law school campus, since few people outside of legal nerd circles knew today was his birthday. Maybe its silly, but I like the idea of someone like Stephens getting the rockstar treatment for a day. Part of me hopes he knows that law nerds everywhere put on bow ties in his honor on his birthday.
Plus, you know I rocked that look.
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