WHEREAS, the members of the City Council of Chicago lament the passing of the Honorable John Paul Stevens. Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, on July 16,2019; and
WHEREAS, Justice Stevens was born on April 20, 1920, to Elizabeth Street Stevens and Ernest Stevens, and was raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, where he attended the University of Chicago Laboratory School, and later earned a degree in English from the University of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, he nobly served his country during World War II in the Navy from 1942-1945 rising to the rank of Lieutenant and earning a bronze star for meritorious achievement; and
WHEREAS, following the war, Justice Stevens returned to Chicago and enrolled at Northwestern University School of Law, located in Streeterville in Chicago's 2nd Ward, where he served as co-editor-in-chief of the Northwestern University Law Review and graduated in 1947 with the highest grade point average in the school's history; and
WHEREAS, his legal career began in Chicago, clerking for Supreme Court Justice Wiley B. Rutledge Jr. before establishing a successful law firm prior to his appointment to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He became Second Vice President of the Chicago Bar Association in 1970 and taught at both University of Chicago Law School and Northwestern Law; and
WHEREAS, President Gerald Ford nominated him for the United States Supreme Court in 1975, where he served for 35 years, the third longest tenure in the Court's history; and
WHEREAS, his tenure on the Supreme Court saw him write on the most important issues of American law, including civil liberties, the death penalty, government actions and intellectual property. Justice Stevens was honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2012; and
WHEREAS, in recognition of Justice Stevens's service to our nation, the State of Illinois and the Cily of Chicago was nothing less than extraordinary; NOW THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled this 18th day of September 2019, honor his memory and service to the United States of America; and
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO
SECTION 1. Pursuant to an ordinance heretofore passed by the City Council, which allows erection of honorary street-name signs, the Commissioner of Transportation shall take the necessary action for standardization of the South side of the 301 - 399 block of East Chicago Avenue, between North Lake Shore Drive and North Fairbanks Court as "Justice John Paul Stevens Way"
BRIAN HOPKINS Alderman, 2"d Ward
SECTION 2. This ordinance shall take effect upon its passage and publication.
