Almost every week the U.S. Supreme Court is in session, the list of routine orders it issues contains a reminder of Justice John Paul Stevens’ strongly independent approach to his work on the Court.

Toward the bottom of the list, the Court often scolds a pro se litigant who has “repeatedly abused this Court’s process” by filing a flurry of frivolous petitions, and then will bar the petitioner from future filings unless a fee is paid. The next line always is, “Justice Stevens dissents.”