--- title: Travel Ban: John Paul Stevens Criticizes Donald Trump description: Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens criticized President Trump's tweets and remarks about court rulings on the travel ban. canonical: https://time.com/4845685/travel-ban-supreme-court-john-pail-stevens/ author: Jack Brewster article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-05T17:59:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:26:32.393Z article:section: Politics og:title: Retired Supreme Court Justice Criticizes Trump's Response to Travel Ban Cases og:description: "They're improper comments." og:url: https://time.com/4845685/travel-ban-supreme-court-john-pail-stevens/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf55592dab22e443/69868c91cd6848bf17094567/144972721.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Speaks At The American Law Institute Annual Meeting og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Retired Supreme Court Justice Criticizes Trump's Response to Travel Ban Cases twitter:description: "They're improper comments." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf55592dab22e443/69868c91cd6848bf17094567/144972721.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'They're Improper Comments.' 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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 [Jack Brewster](https://time.com/author/jack-brewster/) ## Jack Brewster Jul 5, 2017 5:59 PM UTC  Retired U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens addresses the American Law Institute's annual meeting at the Mayflower Hotel May 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. Retired U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens addresses the American Law Institute's annual meeting at the Mayflower Hotel May 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Jack Brewster](https://time.com/author/jack-brewster/) ## Jack Brewster Jul 5, 2017 5:59 PM UTC Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens criticized President Trump’s tweets and remarks about court rulings on the travel ban. In an interview [with Law 360 released on Monday,](https://www.law360.com/articles/940927/exclusive-justice-john-paul-stevens-on-playing-politics-with-the-high-court) Stevens, 97, said that Trump’s response to legal setbacks were “improper” and showed a lack of understanding of civics. “I don’t think whoever makes those comments is helping the institution or helping the public understand the correct role of the court or the importance or independence of the judges,” he said. After moves to ban travelers from several Muslim-majority countries faced repeated legal setbacks, Trump [repeatedly lashed out](http://time.com/4805091/donald-trump-travel-ban-justice-department/) at the courts, calling them “slow and political.” The Supreme Court will [hear arguments](http://time.com/4832729/supreme-court-travel-ban-case-argument/) on the most recent version of the travel ban this fall. Stevens also said he disagrees with the travel ban. “Of course the court has to consider the national security issues, but I don’t see the argument finding the danger to our security by allowing Muslims into the country,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to me that’s a very good test of how dangerous the immigrants are.” Stevens, who was nominated to the High Court in 1975 by Republican President Gerald Ford, also argued that Senate Republicans blocking of the nomination of Merrick Garland made “the general public think that the \[Supreme Court\] is more of a partisan institution than it really is or should be.” “He really should have been confirmed,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4845685/travel-ban-supreme-court-john-pail-stevens/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4845685/travel-ban-supreme-court-john-pail-stevens/"},"headline":"'They're Improper Comments.' 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