Burnham v. Superior Court of California, County of Marin/Concurrence Stevens

Justice STEVENS, concurring in the judgment.

As I explained in my separate writing, I did not join the Court's opinion in Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U.S. 186, 97 S.Ct. 2569, 53 L.Ed.2d 683 (1977), because I was concerned by its unnecessarily broad reach. Id., at 217-219, 97 S.Ct., at 2586-2588 (opinion concurring in judgment). The same concern prevents me from joining either Justice SCALIA's or Justice BRENNAN's opinion in this case. For me, it is sufficient to note that the historical evidence and consensus identified by Justice SCALIA, the considerations of fairness identified by Justice BRENNAN, and the common sense displayed by Justice WHITE, all combine to demonstrate that this is, indeed, a very easy case. #fn-s Accordingly, I agree that the judgment should be affirmed.