Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 13, 1995                   TAG: 9510130046
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOAN BISKUPIC THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

THAT'S LARRY, MOE AND JOHN PAUL STEVENS

Supreme Court justices often protest that they speak as a court, not as individuals. They try to avoid press attention and as much as possible sheathe their personalities in black robes.

Well, it's working.

A recent column about public opinion in The Washington Post noted that pollsters had found more people could name the Three Stooges than could name three of the nine justices. A call this week to the poll taker, Luntz Research Companies, showed that there was more on how little the justices are known.

Of the 1,200 people polled nationwide, only 1 percent could name Justice John Paul Stevens as a member of the court. Ditto for Stephen Breyer. Breyer is the newest justice, but Stevens has been there 20 years.

Stevens is the most senior member after Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Stevens' outlook is thoroughly his own. He dissents more than any other justice, and he is the only one who sports a bow tie.

Breyer, originally from San Francisco, was appointed by President Clinton in May 1994.

Named only slightly more often than Stevens and Breyer were Justices David Souter and Anthony Kennedy. Four percent of the people randomly selected in the August 1995 survey could name them. Souter, of New Hampshire, who was President George Bush's first appointee, in 1990, said he likes the low profile. He said he was taken aback when, around the time of his confirmation hearings, a man approached him as he left a grocery store and asked, ``You're that lawyer fella, aren't you?''

Kennedy is the justice who was nominated when the Senate defeated President Ronald Reagan's first nominee in 1987, Judge Robert Bork. Kennedy is from California and is a swing vote.

Only 6 percent of the people polled could name Justice Antonin Scalia. He was the court's first Italian-American justice. Originally from New Jersey, the wise-cracking Scalia loathes the press but loves attention.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was Clinton's first appointee, in 1993, was named by 7 percent. Ginsburg is the second female justice and made her name as an effective advocate for women's legal rights.

Eight percent of the people contacted could name Chief Justice Rehnquist. He has been on the court since 1971. He has been chief since 1986. He runs the show.

Clarence Thomas is more of a household name. Thirty percent could name him as a justice. Thomas was all over national television four years ago this month. His confirmation hearings exploded when a former employee, Anita Hill, accused him of sexual harassment. A native of Georgia, he also is the only black justice.

And the winner, of sorts, is Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

She was the most frequently named justice, cited by 31 percent of the people polled. O'Connor was appointed by Reagan in 1981. The first female justice is a key vote, particularly on cases involving standards for race discrimination.

Only 17 percent of the people polled could correctly name three of the justices. Fifty-nine percent could name the Three Stooges.

``The Three Stooges question was a bit tongue in cheek,'' said Mark Allen, vice president at Luntz Research in Arlington. He said the point of the survey was to determine ``how civics minded'' people are.