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Jl" Portiani» (Dbseruer
April 14. 2010
Supreme Court Justice to Step Down
Giving Obama second court pick
(AP) — Suprem e Court Ju s
tice John Paul Stevens, the
c o u rt's o ld e st m em b er and
leader o f its liberal bloc, is re
tir in g . P re s id e n t B a ra c k
O bam a now has his second
high court opening to fill.
Stevens said Friday he will
step down when the court fin
ishes its work for the summer in
late June or early July. He said
he hopes his successor is con
firmed "well in advance o f the
commencement o f the court's
next term."
S te v e n s'
an n o u n c e m e n t
leaves ample time for the White
House to settle on a successor
and for Senate Democrats, who
control a 59-vote majority, to
hold confirmation hearings and a
vote before the court's next term
begins in October. Republicans
have not ruled out attempts to
delay confirmation.
S te v e n s ' a n n o u n c e m e n t. Justice John Paul Stevens
w hich cam e 11 days before his
90th birthday, had been hinted
at for months. It's presum ed
O bam a will nom inate another
liberal, so Stevens' departure
w ouldn't alter the court's philo
sophical makeup.
T h ro u g h o u t h is te n u re ,
w hich began after President
G erald Ford nom inated him in
1975, Stevens usually sided
with the court's liberal bloc in
the m ost contentious cases —
those involving abortion, crim i
nal law, civil rights and church-
state relations. He led the dis
senters as w ell in the case o f
Bush v. G ore that sealed P resi
dent G eorge W. Bush's elec
tion in 2000.
Stevens began signaling a
possible retirem ent last sum
m er when he hired ju st one o f
his usual com plem ent o f four
law clerks for the next court
term. He acknow ledged in sev
eral interview s that he was
contem plating stepping down
and w ould certainly do so dur
ing O bam a's presidency.
TriMet Boosts Security As Past Efforts Pay Dividends
TriM et has won a $1.9 mil
lion T ransportation Safety A d
m inistration grant to enhance
security on the transit system
at the same tim e it is heralding
an 19 percent decrease o f re
ported crim e on MAX
The announcement came on
the second anniversary o f the
opening o f the East Police Pre
cinct in Gresham, which has seen
a 50 percent decrease in re
ported crime on MAX over the
past year
“T riM et’s top priority is to
operate a safe and secure tran
sit system ,” said TriM et G en
eral M anager Fred H ansen.
“W ith partners like TSA, w e’re
able to continue to expand our
efforts that help reduce inci
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TriMet’s top priority is to
operate a safe and secure
transit system.
dents of crim e on the system .”
The grant will add security
cameras at nine MAX stations,
boost p e rim e te r secu rity at
TriM et facilities and fund a
backup Command Center.
The stations slated for se
curity cam eras on the east side
include 122nd A venue, 02nd
Avenue, G atew ay Transit C en
ter, Parkrose/Sum ner Transit
C e n te r, N o rth e a s t S ev en th
A venue, and the C onvention
Center. On the w est side, they
are the G oose H ollow /South-
west Jefferson Street , M illikan
Way, and O renco-N orthw est
231st A venue stations.
Installation will begin this sum
mer, bringing the total number o f
stations with cameras to 74 out
or 84, many tunded with TSA
grants.
O v er the past 2.5 years,
TriM et has taken several steps
to increase secu rity on the
MAX system , including the
doubling the num ber o f transit
police officers, from 29 to 58
officers; doubling the num ber
o f TriM et sta ff dedicated to
fare inspection (from 15 to 30),
and asking its 46 supervisors
to check fares as part o f their
daily duties.
TriM et also changed code
to add intim idation as behavior
restricted on the system and
made a pledge to rem ove graf
f i t i w ithin 24 hours at m ajor
MAX stations and transit cen
ters.
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