Justice Stevens: The First Three Terms

This Special Project undertakes an examination of Justice Stevens\u27 Supreme Court opinions in an effort to identify his philosophical orientations, to evaluate the consistency of his views, and to determine the extent to which he has developed workable analytical methods. To achieve these goals, Justice Stevens\u27 opinions are examined in three contexts: first, the area of federal-state relations,including commerce clause and supremacy clause questions; second, the individual rights area, emphasizing criminal constitutional and first amendment issues, and problems of fifth and fourteenth amendment analysis; and third, questions concerning the proper role of the Supreme Court in the constitutional scheme. Even though any vote cast by a Supreme Court Justice may illustrate a significant aspect of his ideology, this Special Project limits attention to opinions authored by Justice Stevens on the assumption that they most accurately represent his views.\u2