http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/core-libs-dev/2014-January/024690.html:
"The javadoc for checkMemberAccess does not seem to accurately reflect what the method does or how it works. We need to re-align the javadoc, the JVM spec., and (if necessary) the code. For example, I would prefer either an explicit call from checkMemberAccess to isClassAccessible, or at least have an assert in there."