one case in particular...
http://reason.com/archives/2010/04/12/justice-stevens-champion-of-ciimo, gonzales v. raich is one of the most twisted cases in recent scotus memory, in terms of twisted logic and ridiculous expansion of commerce clause powers...
Stevens wrote the majority opinion in Gonzales v. Raich, the notorious case that upheld the federal government's power to enforce its prohibition on medical marijuana, permitting federal agents to raid, arrest, prosecute, and imprison sick people who rely on the drug, even in states that have legalized the treatment. Stevens' may well be remembered as a defender of fairness and justice, but he couldn't bring himself to allow states to let private individuals grow a harmless plant in their own homes for personal treatment of sometimes terminal illness. The absurdity of that position was aptly (though unintentionally) illustrated in a subsequent Washington Post editorial, which argued that while the consequences of Raich—allowing violent federal raids on sick people to continue—were regrettable, the decision was necessary, and offered as an example the Court's later decision to decline to hear a case in which a federal appeals court upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to prevent the construction of a hospital in order to protect a species of endangered cave-dwelling insects native only to Texas. Stevens' record on the Fourth Amendment, while containing highlights, is also less pure than suggested by the praise he has received over the last few days. He did author the Court's opinion in 2009’s Arizona v. Gant, which limited the scope with which police can search a suspect's car after making an arrest. And he did dissent in a 1984 case affirming the "open fields" doctrine, which allows the government to search open private property without a warrant. He also joined the dissent in Hudson v. Michigan (which argued that evidence should be thrown out when police violated the "knock and announce rule" in conducting searches of homes), and was on the pro-Fourth Amendment side in Indianapolis v. Edmond (ruling against police roadblocks that randomly check for illicit drugs) and Michigan v. Sitz (ruling in favor of police roadblocks that randomly check motorists for intoxication.)
But Stevens also voted to allow customs agents to seize suspected drug mules until the suspects are observed having a bowel movement, and to allow police to search closed containers found during a warrantless search of a vehicle. In the 2001 case Kyllo v. The United States, Stevens wrote the dissent, arguing that police shouldn't need a warrant to use thermal imaging equipment to look through the walls of private homes in search of marijuana growing operations. So if it's true that Stevens is currently the justice most friendly to the accused, that's only because the debate over criminal justice issues has shifted so dramatically during his tenure. When Stevens joined the court, he had Justice Thurgood Marshall and Justice William Brennan reliably to his left. As my colleague Jacob Sullum has convincingly argued, after Stevens, the justice most friendly to criminal defendants today may well be Antonin Scalia.
So even given Stevens' mixed record on criminal justice, it's almost certain that his replacement will move the Court in a direction more deferential to police and prosecutors. In every criminal justice case to come before the Court since President Barack Obama took office, the administration’s Office of Solicitor General has filed a brief in favor of the law enforcement side. You could argue that when the case involves a challenge to federal law, the Office is obligated to defend the government. But even in cases involving state law, such as 2009's Alaska, District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne, the administration filed briefs and gave oral arguments against the rights of the accused.
In Osbourne, for example, the solicitor general argued against the right to post-conviction DNA testing that could conclusively prove an inmate's innocence. In Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, the administration argued that the Constitution's Confrontation Clause did not grant defendants the right to cross-examine forensic analysts. And Obama's solicitor general, Elena Kagan, is considered one of the leading candidates to replace Stevens.
Shortly after Obama nominated his previous pick for SCOTUS, the former prosecutor and now-Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Vice President Joe Biden assured a gathering of law enforcement officials that Sotomayor "has your back." It was a remarkable thing for Biden to say about a nominee who, if confirmed, would preside over cases aiming to find the correct balance between the government's police power and our constitutional rights. More remarkable was how uncontroversial Biden's assurance was. It received very little media attention at all. It's a testament to the state of the debate over these issues: There isn't one. As I wrote after Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, there was almost no discussion at all of her positions on important Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, or Eighth Amendment issues. To the extent that there was, it tended to be Democrats posturing in favor of fewer rights for the accused.
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