2009 term United States Supreme Court opinions of John Paul Stevens

Smith v. Spisak

558 U.S. 139 (2010)

Eighth Amendment • death penalty • jury instructions on mitigation • Sixth Amendment • ineffective assistance of counsel

NRG Power Marketing, LLC v. Maine Pub. Util. Comm'n

558 U.S. 165 (2010)

Federal Power Act • presumption of reasonable electricity rates under wholesale energy contracts

Wood v. Allen

558 U.S. 290 (2010)

habeas corpus • Sixth Amendment • ineffective assistance of counsel

Kennedy

Sotomayor

Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n

558 U.S. 310 (2010)

campaign finance reform • Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 • First Amendment • free speech • corporate speech

Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor

United States v. Seale

558 U.S. 985 (2009)

federal kidnapping offense • statute of limitations

Scalia

Stevens filed a statement respecting the Court's dismissal of a certified question, regarding which statute of limitations applied to the federal crime of kidnapping, 18 U.S.C. § 1201. The question arose in the federal prosecution, begun in 2007, of KKK member James Ford Seale for his role in the 1964 murders of two black teens. There was no statute of limitations for capital crimes, but if the crime was not capital in nature the limitations period would be five years and have since expired. Section 1201 was punishable by death at the time of the crime and at the time of the prosecution, but not for more than two decades in between due to a repeal of the relevant death penalty provision in 1972. The District Court in Seale's prosecution ruled that the repeal did not retroactively change the character of the crime, which a panel of the Fifth Circuit then reversed. The Fifth Circuit vacated that decision for an en banc review, but then evenly divided and so the District Court's ruling was reinstated. A majority of the Fifth Circuit then voted to certify the question to the Supreme Court.

Stevens believed the certified issue was "a pure question of law that may well determine the outcome of a number of cases of ugly racial violence remaining from the 1960s." Though the question was interlocutory, due to Seale's appeal on other grounds, Stevens saw no reason to delay the resolution of that question, which Stevens viewed as "narrow, debatable, and important." Stevens further noted that the Court had not accepted a certified question since 1981, but that the certification process remains law because it "serves a valuable, if limited, function."

Muhammad v. Kelly

558 U.S. 1019 (2009)

death penalty • staying executions

Ginsburg, Sotomayor

Stevens filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of a stay of execution, and denial of the petition for certiorari.

Johnson v. Bredesen

558 U.S. 1067 (2009)

Eighth Amendment • death penalty

Breyer

Stevens filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of certiorari and a stay of execution.

Florida v. Powell

559 U.S. 50 (2010)

Fifth Amendment • Miranda warning • adequate and independent state ground doctrine

Breyer (in part)

Maryland v. Shatzer

559 U.S. 98 (2010)

Fifth Amendment • Miranda rights • release to general prison population as break in custody

Graham County Soil and Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson

559 U.S. 280 (2010)

False Claims Act • bar on qui tam suits based on publicly disclosed allegations

Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, Alito; Scalia (in part)

Sotomayor

Padilla v. Kentucky

559 U.S. 356 (2010)

Sixth Amendment • ineffective assistance of counsel • legal advice on deportation as consequence of conviction

Kennedy, Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor

Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates, P. A. v. Allstate Ins. Co.

559 U.S. 393 (2010)

class actions • state rule conflict with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure • Rules Enabling Act

Merck & Co. v. Reynolds

559 U.S. 633 (2010)

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 • securities fraud • statute of limitations • discovery rule and scienter

Salazar v. Buono

559 U.S. 700 (2010)

Article III • standing • First Amendment • Establishment Clause • display of religious symbol on government land • land transfer from government to private owner

Ginsburg, Sotomayor

Renico v. Lett

559 U.S. 766 (2010)

Fifth Amendment • Double Jeopardy Clause • retrial after mistrial

Sotomayor; Breyer (in part)

Roberts

Florida v. Rigterink

559 U.S. 965 (2010)

adequate and independent state ground doctrine

Stevens dissented from the Court's summary granting of certiorari, vacatur of decision by the Florida Supreme Court, and remand. Stevens believed the lower court's decision rested upon an adequate and independent state ground, leaving the Court without jurisdiction to vacate the judgment.

Abbott v. Abbott

560 U.S. 1 (2010)

Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction • International Child Abduction Remedies Act • ne exeat right as right of custody

Thomas, Breyer

Graham v. Florida

560 U.S. 48 (2010)

Eighth Amendment • cruel and unusual punishment • sentencing of juveniles to life imprisonment for nonhomicide crimes

Ginsburg, Sotomayor

American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League

560 U.S. 183 (2010)

antitrust law • National Football League team intellectual property licensing • concerted action • Rule of Reason

Unanimous

United States v. O'Brien

560 U.S. 218 (2010)

use of machine gun in federal crime as element or sentencing factor

Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co.

560 U.S. 242 (2010)

Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 • award of attorney's fees

United States v. Marcus

560 U.S. 258 (2010)

plain error standard of review • Ex Post Facto Clause • Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000

Samantar v. Yousuf

560 U.S. 305 (2010)

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act • immunity for officials of foreign states

Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor

Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder

560 U.S. 563 (2010)

Immigration and Nationality Act • discretionary cancellation of removal proceedings • drug possession as aggravated felony

Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor

New Process Steel, L. P. v. NLRB

560 U.S. 674 (2010)

Taft-Hartley Act • National Labor Relations Board • delegation of powers to groups of members

Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito

Ontario v. Quon

560 U.S. 746 (2010)

Fourth Amendment • government review of employee text messages

Dillon v. United States

560 U.S. 817 (2010)

United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines • sentence reduction • possession of crack cocaine

Sotomayor

Rent-A-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson

561 U.S. 63 (2010)

Federal Arbitration Act • challenge to enforceability of arbitration agreement

Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor

Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms

561 U.S. 139 (2010)

Plant Protection Act • deregulation of genetically modified plants • Article III • standing

Doe v. Reed

561 U.S. 186 (2010)

public disclosure of referendum petitions • First Amendment • free speech

Breyer

Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd.

561 U.S. 247 (2010)

Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 • SEC Rule 10b-5 • extraterritorial application

Ginsburg

Bilski v. Kappos

561 U.S. 593 (2010)

patent law • patentability of business method

Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor

Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez

561 U.S. 661 (2010)

nondiscrimination policy for university student organizations • First Amendment • free speech • public forum doctrine