( CNN ) -- With the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens , the United States Supreme Court loses a judge with an unusual ability to get the big things right by getting the little things right . Justice Stevens will be remembered for his stirring opinions in cases of great national significance . He also should be remembered for his equally compelling commitment to justice in scores of other decisions that received little public notice . In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in 2006 , Stevens wrote the majority opinion holding that even in the face of real threats of terror , the president must follow the law . The court declared that the Constitution reached into a military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , and offered the protection of the rule of law to the man who served as the driver for Osama bin Laden . For Stevens , no person was above the law , and no person was below the law . Stevens ' passion for this ideal drew support from his experience as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Wiley Rutledge . In 1946 , the Supreme Court upheld the summary trial and the death sentence meted out by an American military tribunal to accused Japanese war criminal Tomoyuki Yamashita . Dissenting , Rutledge affirmed the importance of providing `` due process of law '' to all people , `` whether citizens , aliens , alien enemies or enemy belligerents . '' In Hamdan , Stevens finally vindicated that principle 60 years later . For Stevens , that dedication to ensuring justice in all cases constituted the defining characteristic of a judge . In the 2000 presidential election decision , Bush v. Gore , Stevens penned a stinging dissent , castigating the majority for undermining the `` Nation 's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law . '' Stevens ' commitment to the rule of law transcended partisan boundaries . In 1997 , he spoke for the Court in Clinton v. Jones , finding that the Constitution did not shield President Clinton with immunity from civil suits . First appointed to the bench by President Nixon and then elevated to the high court by President Ford , Stevens was a Republican from a different era . His rulings fell out of favor with the ideology of that party . However , Stevens always remained a small-R republican . He detested the idea of a monarch who stood outside of the law . He often cited the English maxim , `` The King can do no wrong , '' to emphasize the foreignness of that concept of immunity in our republican form of government . Cases involving presidents are important , but rare . Stevens insisted on promoting the rule of law in all cases . When I think about Stevens , I think not only of Bush and Gore , of Clinton and Rumsfeld , but also of Vladimir Zatko and Jerome Hiersche . It is a bedrock principle of the American legal system that lack of wealth should not translate into a denial of justice . Accordingly , courts do not charge filing fees to those who can not afford to pay . In the early 1990s , however , the Supreme Court deviated from that practice by barring access to people it deemed frequent filers of frivolous actions . The court refused to waive the fees for these litigants despite their poverty . When the court invoked the rule to bar access to one Vladimir Zatko , Stevens dissented . His opinion criticized the court for undermining its commitment to offering `` equal access to justice for both the rich and the poor . '' The court continues to invoke the rule up to this day , and Stevens continues to dissent . And then there is the tragic case of Jerome Hiersche . The United States government hired Hiersche , a professional diver , to inspect a dam on the Columbia River . Government employees assured Hiersche that the water flow system would be shut off , but it was not . Hiersche 's head was pulled into an opening in the system , and he was killed . The government denied all liability , citing language in a Supreme Court case interpreting an obscure provision of a 1928 statute . Stevens wrote separately to decry this result , imploring Congress to remedy the situation . He declared that `` this obsolete legislative remnant is nothing more than an engine of injustice . '' In his lexicon , there was no stronger rebuke . The rule of law requires standing up to presidents , but it also demands standing up for the notorious and the nameless , the Hamdans and the Yamashitas , the Zatkos and the Hiersches . When one develops a habit of promoting justice in the obscure cases , the courage to demand justice in the notable cases follows . Justice Stevens pursued justice in all cases , great and small . The rule of law has lost an important champion on our nation 's highest court . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Robert Schapiro .
Justice Stevens stood firmly for the rule of law , his former law clerk says . Robert Schapiro says Stevens held presidents to account , said they were not above the law . Stevens believed everyone , regardless of means , should have access to courts , he says . Schapiro : The law requires standing up to presidents and standing up for the nameless .