--- title: John Paul Stevens Says Brett Kavanaugh Is Not Qualified for Supreme Court description: Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens sid he no longer believes Brett Kavanaugh is qualified for a seat on the Supreme Court canonical: https://time.com/5416084/john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-04T22:12:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:38:51.160Z article:section: Politics og:title: Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Says Brett Kavanaugh Should Not Be Confirmed og:description: "I feel his performance in the hearings ultimately changed my mind" og:url: https://time.com/5416084/john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c5ae8e8ffa6ac5d/69893be897cdffa9dd6b6665/supreme-court-john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4200 og:image:height: 2363 og:image:alt: Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Testifies To Senate Committee On Campaign Finance og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Says Brett Kavanaugh Should Not Be Confirmed twitter:description: "I feel his performance in the hearings ultimately changed my mind" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c5ae8e8ffa6ac5d/69893be897cdffa9dd6b6665/supreme-court-john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Says Brett Kavanaugh Should Not Be Confirmed: 'Pay Attention' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 4, 2018 10:12 PM UTC  Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens testifies before the Senate Committee on Campaign Finance on Capitol Hill on April 30, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens testifies before the Senate Committee on Campaign Finance on Capitol Hill on April 30, 2014 in Washington, D.C.Allison Shelley/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 4, 2018 10:12 PM UTC Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens [said Thursday](https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/retired-supreme-court-justice-kavanaugh-does-not-belong-high-court/aXEO6XTeiF8OECimtNxpjJ/) that he no longer believes [Brett Kavanaugh](http://time.com/5409739/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-justice-process/) is qualified for a seat on the Supreme Court because of his performance during last week’s confirmation hearings. During hearings over a sexual assault allegation against him, Kavanaugh lashed out at what he called a [“calculated and orchestrated political hit,](http://time.com/5409283/brett-kavanaugh-opening-statement/) fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election,” claiming that [“revenge on behalf of the Clintons”](http://time.com/5413906/kavanaugh-clinton-fraught-history/) had played a role. Democrats and other critics argued that Kavanaugh’s testimony raised questions about [his temperament and political bias](http://time.com/5412701/democrats-brett-kavanaugh-temperament/), with some arguing it could be disqualifying. “I think there’s merit to that criticism and I think the senators should really pay attention that,” Stevens said at an event in Boca Raton, Fla., on Thursday, [according to the Palm Beach _Post_](https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/retired-supreme-court-justice-kavanaugh-does-not-belong-high-court/aXEO6XTeiF8OECimtNxpjJ/). > [](https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1047975997075849216) Stevens, a Republican who was appointed by GOP President Gerald Ford, often issued liberal opinions during his time on the high court. He [signed a dissenting opinion](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/pdf/00-949P.ZD) in the _Bush v. Gore_ case, in which the majority ruled to settle the 2000 election recount dispute in favor of George W. Bush. In March, after the Parkland shooting, Stevens [wrote a New York _Times_ column](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/opinion/john-paul-stevens-repeal-second-amendment.html) calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment. As the _Post_ noted, Stevens previously praised Kavanaugh in his 2014 book [_Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution_](https://books.google.com/books/about/Six%5FAmendments.html?id=gbtXAgAAQBAJ). “At that time, I thought (Kavanaugh) had the qualifications for the Supreme Court should he be selected,” Stevens said Thursday, according to the _Post_. “I’ve changed my views for reasons that have no relationship to his intellectual ability … I feel his performance in the hearings ultimately changed my mind.” Stevens is the first retired or serving Supreme Court justice to comment on the controversy over Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Retired Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy, whose spot Kavanaugh has been nominated to fill, declined to comment on the hearings at an event last week, the [Associated Press reported](https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article219216960.html). Kavanaugh’s confirmation [will come down to a few key Senators](http://time.com/5415238/fbi-report-brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court/) ahead of a highly anticipated cloture vote on Friday. But Stevens’ comments quickly garnered attention Thursday. “I agree with Justice Stevens. Judge Kavanaugh’s partisanship and temperament would do lasting damage to the credibility of the Court — an often overlooked consequence should he be confirmed,” tweeted Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. > [](https://twitter.com/SenatorLeahy/status/1047942721057542145) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5416084/john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5416084/john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh/"},"headline":"Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Says Brett Kavanaugh Should Not Be Confirmed: 'Pay Attention'","datePublished":"2018-10-04T22:12:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:38:51.160Z","description":"\"I feel his performance in the hearings ultimately changed my mind\"","url":"https://time.com/5416084/john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh/","keywords":["Supreme Court","Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c5ae8e8ffa6ac5d/69893be897cdffa9dd6b6665/supreme-court-john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c5ae8e8ffa6ac5d/69893be897cdffa9dd6b6665/supreme-court-john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Testifies To Senate Committee On Campaign Finance","caption":"Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Testifies To Senate Committee On Campaign Finance","creditText":"Allison Shelley/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5416084/john-paul-stevens-brett-kavanaugh/","name":"Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Says Brett Kavanaugh Should Not Be Confirmed: 'Pay Attention'"}}]}] ```