John Paul Stevens became the 101st justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1975, the fourth of four justices to have come from Illinois. Stevens was nominated by President Gerald Ford (his only Supreme Court appointment). He served as the court’s acting chief justice for a period in 2005 while the court was not in session. This occurred between the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.My columns have featured Stevens several times. But today’s …