| | Often writing in dissent, Justice Stevens wrote few significant majority decisions for the Court. During his 35 years as a Supreme Court Justice, his most important Court decisions were ''Atkins v. Virginia'' (2002) (holding that the execution of mentally retarded defendants was unconstitutional under the [[Eighth Amendment]]); ''Clinton v. Jones'' (1997) (holding that a president is not exempt from civil litigation); and ''Wallace v. Jaffree'' (1985) (invalidating a state law mandating a minute of silence in public schools “for meditation or silent prayer”). | | Often writing in dissent, Justice Stevens wrote few significant majority decisions for the Court. During his 35 years as a Supreme Court Justice, his most important Court decisions were ''Atkins v. Virginia'' (2002) (holding that the execution of mentally retarded defendants was unconstitutional under the [[Eighth Amendment]]); ''Clinton v. Jones'' (1997) (holding that a president is not exempt from civil litigation); and ''Wallace v. Jaffree'' (1985) (invalidating a state law mandating a minute of silence in public schools “for meditation or silent prayer”). |
| | + | Justice Stevens dissented alone from an 8-1 decision reversing application the racketeering law (designed to use against mobsters) to [[pro-life]] protesters. In other words, Justices Stevens felt that this law should apply against pro-lifers, relying heavily on his own dissents from prior Supreme Court decisions: |
| | + | :In my opinion Judge Kearse's analysis of the issue is manifestly correct. Even if the issue were close, however, three additional considerations provide strong support for her conclusion. First, the uniform construction of the statute that has prevailed throughout the country for decades should remain the law unless and until Congress decides to amend the statute. See Reves v. Ernst & Young, 494 U.S. 56, 74, 108 L. Ed. 2d 47, 110 S. Ct. 945 (1990) (STEVENS, J., concurring); Chesapeake & Ohio R. Co. v. Schwalb, 493 U.S. 40, 51, 107 L. Ed. 2d 278, 110 S. Ct. 381 (1989) (STEVENS, J., concurring in judgment); McNally v. United States, 483 U.S. 350, 376-377, 97 L. Ed. 2d 292, 107 S. Ct. 2875 (1987) (STEVENS, J., dissenting); 2 Shearson/American Express Inc. v. McMahon, 482 U.S. 220, 268-269, 96 L. Ed. 2d 185, 107 S. Ct. 2332 (1987) (STEVENS, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). ... |
| | + | Scheidler v. NOW, Inc., 537 U.S. 393, 416-17 (Stevens, J., dissenting) |
| | Justice Stevens dissented alone from a decision upholding a blanket exclusion of defendant's polygraph evidence in military trials.<ref>''[[United States v. Scheffer]]'', 523 U.S. 303 (1998).</ref> | | Justice Stevens dissented alone from a decision upholding a blanket exclusion of defendant's polygraph evidence in military trials.<ref>''[[United States v. Scheffer]]'', 523 U.S. 303 (1998).</ref> |