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 Stevens’s fact-based, case-by-case approach to considering questions regarding Miranda rights, jury trials, search and seizure protections, and capital punishment. The author’s informative, personal interviews with the justice complement illuminating discussions of Stevens’s earlier experiences and detailed analyses of the jurist’s later opinions on the Supreme Court. The result is a rich depiction of Stevens’s criminal justice jurisprudence as complex and consistent, without being ideologically reflexive. As the definitive examination of one of the Court’s 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.

Madhavi M. McCall, San Diego State University

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.

Craig Hemmens, Washington State University

A thoroughly engaging and informative analysis that illuminates the rights-protective approach to criminal justice that animated Stevens’s decision making on both the 7thCircuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Throughout the text, Smith deftly weaves insights from his interviews with the justice, providing examples of specific life experiences that helped to shape Stevens’s views on particular issues. A must-read for scholars and anyone interested in learning more about the complex judicial philosophy of one of the most consequential justices of the contemporary Supreme Court era.

Joyce A. Baugh, Central Michigan University