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101 Harv. L. Rev. 395 (1987-1988)
Issue 2

handle is hein.journals/hlr101 and id is 413 raw text is: DECEMBER 1987 HARVARD LAW REVIEW A TRIBUTE TO JUSTICE LEWIS F. POWELL, JR. Sandra Day O'Connor* Changes in the composition of the Supreme Court are both inev- itable and inevitably significant. As the law and the nation are to some degree shaped by the Court, so the Court is shaped by the Justices who serve on it. It is fitting, on the occasion of Justice Lewis F. Powell's retirement, to reflect on the role of individual character in the work of the Court. Justice Powell's decision to retire, which came as a surprise to his eight colleagues, provides a particularly apt moment for such reflection because of Justice Powell's extraordinary personal qualities. His de- parture from the Court is an important event for many different reasons, and I leave others to speculate about the effects on the publicly visible aspects of the Court's work. I wish to focus instead on the man himself and especially on why his leaving is so poignant for those of us who remain. Few people join the Court without their fair share of outstanding personal accomplishments. With respect to how many of the Justices, however, could their colleagues say, years later, His very presence among us, day to day and on the bench, was something each of us valued - indeed, treasured? I can say that about Justice Powell, for I have known no one in my lifetime who is kinder or more courteous than he. If at times he was unhappy or frustrated with one of us, he never expressed a harsh thought or criticism. Instead, he would smile and say, in his soft Southern accent, something like: Now, I would be pleased to have any of you join me. And I would be happy to hear any of your suggestions. The humanizing influence of Justice Powell's courtesy and kindness is not an easy thing to measure, but for those of us who felt it, it will be impossible to forget. Nor should one assume that his gentle nature affected only the atmosphere in which we worked. At conference discussions, he would often focus on the equities of the particular case, for the parties and the problems they presented were very much * Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court. VOLUME 101 NUMBER 2

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