John Paul Stevens Defender of Rights in Criminal Justice [Paperback]

For far too long, scholarship on the Supreme Court of the United States has lacked a systematic assessment of the jurisprudence and impact of Justice Stevens across a range of legal issues. Fortunately, Professor Smith not only answers this call, he does so with an engaging style that does not sacrifice nuance or intellectual rigor. Smith employs multiple lenses to reveal Stevenss fact-based, case-by-case approach to considering questions regarding Miranda rights, jury trials, search and seizure protections, and capital punishment. The authors informative, personal interviews with the justice complement illuminating discussions of Stevenss earlier experiences and detailed analyses of the jurists later opinions on the Supreme Court. The result is a rich depiction of Stevenss criminal justice jurisprudence as complex and consistent, without being ideologically reflexive. As the definitive examination of one of the Courts most influential members in cases addressing the rights of prisoners and of the criminally accused, John Paul Stevens: Defender of Rights in Criminal Justice deserves a prominent place on the bookshelf for those interested in criminal justice, constitutional interpretation, or public law.Chris Smith, one of the foremost scholars of legal issues in criminal justice, has produced an important, path-breaking work on Justice John Paul Stevens, one of the least studies and least understood of recent Supreme Court justices. During his more than thirty years on the Supreme Court, Justice Stevens wrote important opinions dealing with virtually every aspect of the criminal justice system, including the death penalty, prisoners rights, search and seizure law, and the right to counsel. This book provides a comprehensive, yet clear and well-documented analysis of Justice Stevens approach to constitutional rights in criminal justice. Legal scholars and students of the law and criminal justice will benefit tremendously from reading this book.A thoroughly enlƒ$