Retired Judge John Paul Stevens says he left the Supreme Court after undergoing a mini-stroke

A "mini-stroke" prompted Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens to retire from the bench in 2010, he said in an interview published Monday in the New York Times.

In his next memoir The manufacture of a justice, who was due to be released in May 2019, Stevens wrote that he had decided to withdraw from the Supreme Court the day he had dissented on the Citizens United decision.

After stumbling over his words, he discovered later in the day that he had undergone a "mini" medical emergency.

"That was it," 98-year-old Stevens told The Times. "I made the decision that day. After going to see the doctor, I immediately sent a letter to the president. "

Stevens holds the record for the third longest judge in the history of the Supreme Court, having served for almost 35 years on the bench before retiring in June 2010.

In his interview with the Times, the naval veteran, with a liberal tendency, explained what he considered to be the most important "mistakes" of the court during his tenure – all the decisions against which he had opposite.

The first mistake he listed was the 2008 decision of the District of Columbia v. Heller, which protects the right of an individual to own firearms. The second, he said, was the Citizens United decision in 2010, which allows a relatively small group of wealthy individuals and businesses to have a strong influence on politics.

Finally, Stevens condemned the Bush / 2000 Gore decision that sealed Bush's victory in the presidential election.

"It was really a shame," Stevens told the Times of the ruling.

Go to The New York Times to read the entire interview.