Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, nominated by Republican Gerald Ford, has been selected by the media as the most "liberal" justice. At a speech to the American Bar Association (ABA) in Chicago, he hinted that the Court is in turmoil over the resignation of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, which, according to Gina Holland of the AP, he described as "really a very, very wrenching experience."

Apparently one issue on the mind of the Court, or at least on the mind of Justice Stevens, is the effect of O'Connor's resignation on death penalty cases. John Roberts, the nominee to fill her position, has a mixed history on the matter. Holland writes,

Roberts, 50, showed little sympathy for prisoner appeals as a government lawyer in the Reagan administration, but later did free legal work for a death row inmate.

In a February 1983 memo while serving in Ronald Reagan's White House, Roberts suggested that the high court could cut its caseload by "abdicating the role of fourth or fifth guesser in death penalty cases."
....

Scheidegger [legal director of a pro-death-penalty group] said that although Roberts' wife, Jane, is a member of a group that opposes capital punishment, Roberts has had no opportunities to vote on death cases in his two years on a federal appeals court.

Justice Stevens said that the number of death penalties "erroneously imposed" indicate that "there must be serious flaws in our administration of criminal justice." Stevens suggested that among them are—

• inadequate representation at trial
• the jury selection process
• elected trial judges
• effect on the jury of victim-impact statements

The anti-abortion position of John Roberts' wife has been widely publicized but her presumed (from her group membership) opposition to capital punishment is less widely known. No word yet on Roberts' views on conjugal activism.

Related post
My view of John Roberts (7/24/05)