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2009 term United States Supreme Court opinions of John Paul Stevens

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The 2009 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 5, 2009, and concluded October 3, 2010. This was the thirty-fifth and final term of Associate Justice John Paul Stevens's tenure on the Court; Stevens retired on June 29, 2010.
John Paul Stevens 2009 term statistics
6
Majority or Plurality
13
Concurrence
3
Other
13
Dissent
2
Concurrence/dissent Total = 37
Bench opinions = 33 Opinions relating to orders = 4 In-chambers opinions = 0
Unanimous opinions: 1 Most joined by: Ginsburg, Sotomayor (8) Least joined by: Scalia, Thomas (4)
Type Case Citation Issues Joined by Other opinions
201



Wong v. Belmontes 558 U.S. 15 (2009)

Sixth Amendment  • ineffective assistance of counsel  • death penalty  • jury instructions
per curiam
Stevens filed an opinion concurring in the Supreme Court's judgment that a convicted murderer on death row had failed to show that his attorney's failure to present more mitigating evidence affected the outcome of his sentencing. Stevens, however, criticized the Supreme Court's prior decision in the same case, from which he had dissented, and stated that he strongly disagreed with the decision to review the case again. The jury had been erroneously instructed that they could not give mitigating weight to any factors that did not reduce his culpability for the crime, which lead it to disregard evidence of the defendant's religious conversion and contributions to a youth rehabilitation program that could have "afford[ed] the jury a principled basis for imposing a sentence other than death." Stevens noted that "the conscientious jurors' mistaken understanding of the law would have prevented them from giving that additional evidence 'any weight at all,' let alone controlling weight."
402



Michigan v. Fisher 558 U.S. 45 (2009)

Fourth Amendment  • emergency aid exception Sotomayor
per curiam
303



Alvarez v. Smith 558 U.S. 87 (2009)

Case or Controversy Clause  • mootness
Breyer
204



Smith v. Spisak 558 U.S. 139 (2010)

Eighth Amendment  • death penalty  • jury instructions on mitigation  • Sixth Amendment  • ineffective assistance of counsel
Breyer
405



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
Ginsburg
406



Wood v. Allen 558 U.S. 290 (2010)

habeas corpus  • Sixth Amendment  • ineffective assistance of counsel Kennedy
Sotomayor
307



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
Kennedy
Roberts
Scalia
Thomas
508



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."
509



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.
510



Johnson v. Bredesen 558 U.S. 1067 (2009)

Eighth Amendment  • death penalty Breyer
Thomas
Stevens filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of certiorari and a stay of execution.
411



Florida v. Powell 559 U.S. 50 (2010)

Fifth Amendment  • Miranda warning  • adequate and independent state ground doctrine Breyer (in part)
Ginsburg
212



Maryland v. Shatzer 559 U.S. 98 (2010)

Fifth Amendment  • Miranda rights  • release to general prison population as break in custody
Scalia
Thomas
113



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)
Scalia
Sotomayor
114



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
Alito
Scalia
215



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
Scalia
Ginsburg
216



Merck & Co. v. Reynolds 559 U.S. 633 (2010)

Securities Exchange Act of 1934  • securities fraud  • statute of limitations  • discovery rule and scienter
Breyer
Scalia
417



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
Kennedy
Roberts
Scalia
Alito
Breyer
418



Renico v. Lett 559 U.S. 766 (2010)

Fifth Amendment  • Double Jeopardy Clause  • retrial after mistrial Sotomayor; Breyer (in part)
Roberts
419



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.
420



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
Kennedy
221



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
Kennedy
Roberts
Thomas
Alito
122



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
223



United States v. O'Brien 560 U.S. 218 (2010)

use of machine gun in federal crime as element or sentencing factor
Kennedy
Thomas
224



Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co. 560 U.S. 242 (2010)

Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974  • award of attorney's fees
Thomas
425



United States v. Marcus 560 U.S. 258 (2010)

plain error standard of review  • Ex Post Facto Clause  • Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
Breyer
126



Samantar v. Yousuf 560 U.S. 305 (2010)

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act  • immunity for officials of foreign states Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor
Scalia
Thomas
Alito
127



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
Scalia
Thomas
128



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
Kennedy
229



Ontario v. Quon 560 U.S. 746 (2010)

Fourth Amendment  • government review of employee text messages
Kennedy
Scalia
430



Dillon v. United States 560 U.S. 817 (2010)

United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines  • sentence reduction  • possession of crack cocaine
Sotomayor
431



Rent-A-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson 561 U.S. 63 (2010)

Federal Arbitration Act  • challenge to enforceability of arbitration agreement Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor
Scalia
432



Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms 561 U.S. 139 (2010)

Plant Protection Act  • deregulation of genetically modified plants  • Article III  • standing
Alito
233



Doe v. Reed 561 U.S. 186 (2010)

public disclosure of referendum petitions  • First Amendment  • free speech Breyer
Roberts
Scalia
Breyer
Alito
Sotomayor
Thomas
234



Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. 561 U.S. 247 (2010)

Securities and Exchange Act of 1934  • SEC Rule 10b-5  • extraterritorial application Ginsburg
Scalia
Breyer
235



Bilski v. Kappos 561 U.S. 593 (2010)

patent law  • patentability of business method Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor
Kennedy
Breyer
236



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
Ginsburg
Kennedy
Alito
437



McDonald v. Chicago 561 U.S. 742 (2010)

Second Amendment  • Fourteenth Amendment  • Incorporation Doctrine  • gun control
Alito
Scalia
Thomas
Breyer

References

  • "2009 Term Opinions of the Court". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  • "2009 Term Opinions Relating to Orders". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  • "2009 Term In-Chambers Opinions". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 4, 2010.