--- title: Remember Stephen Colbert's Interview With John Paul Stevens description: The U.S. Supreme Court Justice stopped by The Colbert Report, and probably regretted it. canonical: https://time.com/5627420/john-paul-stevens-on-colbert/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-17T14:31:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:59:33.008Z og:title: Let's Remember Stephen Colbert's Interview With John Paul Stevens og:description: The U.S. Supreme Court Justice stopped by The Colbert Report og:url: https://time.com/5627420/john-paul-stevens-on-colbert/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c3bcfe0a53402be/698a000909208f47ba4153fb/johnpaulstevensoncolbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: STEVENS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Let's Remember Stephen Colbert's Interview With John Paul Stevens twitter:description: The U.S. Supreme Court Justice stopped by The Colbert Report twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c3bcfe0a53402be/698a000909208f47ba4153fb/johnpaulstevensoncolbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # It's Time to Remember Stephen Colbert's Highly Amusing Interview With John Paul Stevens > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f9aa074f-8e08-44e0-bbeb-6b2910969869&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 17, 2019 2:31 PM UTC  Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States John Paul Stevens, 99, sits for a portrait on Thursday, May 9, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. (Photo by Scott McIntyre/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States John Paul Stevens, 99, sits for a portrait on Thursday, May 9, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. (Photo by Scott McIntyre/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) The Washington Post&The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 17, 2019 2:31 PM UTC Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens [died Tuesday](https://time.com/5627937/justice-john-paul-stevens-obituary/), at the age of 99. He was the third-longest serving justice in history and as the world looks back on the decisions that he wrote during his long tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court, we are also looking back at the time he was interviewed by Stephen Colbert—and quickly regretted it. Back in 2012, the two-years retired [Supreme Court Justice](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1979095,00.html) swung by _The Colbert Report,_ Colbert’s pre-_Late Show_ Comedy Central series, to talk about his experience sitting on the highest court in the land for 35 years. Despite Stevens’ impressive credentials, Colbert bemoaned the fact that he wasn’t able to get a “real” Justice on his show and accused Stevens of setting a poor example for kids by “quitting” the Supreme Court. He then grilled Justice Stevens about going “mad with power” when he served as acting Chief Justice, finding out whether he ever felt like “zazzing up” his robes with feather boas, and naturally asking for assistance in getting out of a speeding ticket. Stevens used the opportunity to expound on his dissenting opinion in two Supreme Court cases, [_Bush v. Gore_](https://time.com/4586501/theodore-olson-2016-recount/), which put George W. Bush in the White House, and [_Citizens United_](https://time.com/4922542/democrats-citizen-united/), the landmark ruling that said donating to political campaigns was a form of speech protected by the First Amendment and created a wave of Super PACs. Colbert also asked Stevens if there were any decisions he made that [he later regretted](https://time.com/5588212/justice-john-paul-stevens-book-interview/), to which Stevens replied: “Other than this interview? 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