2013 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States has handed down eight per curiam opinions during its 2013 term, which began October 7, 2013 and will conclude October 5, 2014.[1]

Because per curiam decisions are issued from the Court as an institution, these opinions all lack the attribution of authorship or joining votes to specific justices. All justices on the Court at the time the decision was handed down are assumed to have participated and concurred unless otherwise noted.

Court membership

Chief Justice: John Roberts

Associate Justices: Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan

Stanton v. Sims

Full caption: Mike Stanton v. Drendolyn Sims
Citations: 571 U.S. ___;
Prior history: Summary judgment granted to defendant, No. 3:09-cv-01356 (S.D. Cal.); rev'd, 706 F. 3d 954 (9th Cir. 2013)
Laws applied: U.S. Const. amend. IV
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

571 U.S. ___
Decided November 4, 2013.
A bystander was seriously injured when a police officer, in hot pursuit of a misdemeanor suspect, kicked open the gate to her yard. She sued the officer for violating her Fourth Amendment rights by his warrantless entry into the curtilage of her property, but the district court held that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity and granted him summary judgment. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit reversed, ruling that there was no basis for warrantless entry because there were no exigent circumstances and the fleeing suspect's alleged offense was minor.

The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit, finding that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity because there was not "clearly established law" on the issue. Instead, federal and state courts were "sharply divided on the question whether an officer with probable cause to arrest a suspect for a misdemeanor may enter a home without a warrant while in hot pursuit of that suspect." The officer could, therefore, not be found "plainly incompetent" in violating the plaintiff's constitutional rights.

Ford Motor Co. v. United States

Full caption: Ford Motor Company v. United States
Citations: 571 U.S. ___;
Prior history: Judgment for defendant, E.D. Mich. June 3, 2010; aff'd, 508 Fed. Appx. 506 (6th Cir. 2012)
Laws applied: 26 U.S.C. § 6611(b); 28 U.S.C. § 1346; 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a) (Tucker Act)
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

571 U.S. ___
Decided December 2, 2013.
Certiorari granted. Sixth Circuit vacated and remanded.

Unite Here Local 355 v. Mulhall

Full caption: Unite Here Local 355 v. Martin Mulhall et al.
Citations: 571 U.S. ___;
Prior history: Complaint dismissed, No. 0:08-cv-61766-PAS (S.D. Fla. Apr. 22, 2009); rev'd, 618 F. 3d 1279 (11th Cir. 2010); complaint dismissed, No. 0:08-cv-61766-PAS, S.D. Fla.; rev'd, 667 F. 3d 1211 (11th Cir. 2012); cert. granted, 570 U.S. ___ (2013)
Laws applied: 29 U.S.C. § 186 (section 302 of the Labor Management Relations Act)
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

571 U.S. ___
Decided December 10, 2013.
The Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.

Justice Breyer filed a dissent, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan.


Hinton v. Alabama

Full caption: Anthony Ray Hinton v. Alabama
Citations: 571 U.S. ___;
Prior history: Postconviction petition denied, Ala. Cir. Ct.; aff'd, 2006 WL 1125605 (Ala. Crim. App., Apr. 28, 2006); rev'd and remanded, 2008 WL 4603723 (Ala. Oct. 17, 2008); remanded, 8 WL 5517591 (Ala. Crim. App., Dec. 19, 2008); aff'd, CR-04-0940, (Ala. Crim. App., Aug. 26, 2011); rev'd and remanded, sub nom. Ex Parte Hinton, No. 1110129 (Ala., Nov. 9, 2012); aff'd, sub nom. Hinton v. State, CR-04-0940 (Ala. Crim. App, Feb. 15, 2013); review denied, No. 1110129 (Ala., 2013)
Laws applied: U.S. Const. amend. VI
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

571 U.S. ___
Decided February 24, 2014.
Certiorari granted. Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals vacated and remanded.

Tolan v. Cotton

Full caption: Robert R. Tolan v. Jeffrey Wayne Cotton
Citations: 572 U.S. ___;
Prior history: Summary judgment granted to defendant, 854 F. Supp. 2d 444 (S.D. Tex. 2012); aff'd, 713 F. 3d 299 (5th Cir. 2013); rehearing en banc denied, 538 Fed. Appx. 374 (5th Cir. 2013)
Laws applied: Fed. R. Civ. P. 56
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

572 U.S. ___
Decided May 5, 2014.
Justice Alito, joined by Justice Scalia, filed an opinion concurring in the Court's judgment.

Martinez v. Illinois

Full caption: Esteban Martinez v. Illinois
Citations: 572 U.S. ___;
Prior history: Directed verdict for defendant, Ill. Cir. Ct., Kane Cty., May 17, 2010; rev'd, 969 N.E. 2d 840 (Ill. App. Ct. 2011); aff'd, 990 N.E. 2d 215 (Ill. 2013)
Laws applied: U.S. Const. amend. V
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

572 U.S. ___
Decided May 27, 2014.
Certiorari granted. Supreme Court of Illinois reversed and remanded.

Williams v. Johnson

Full caption: Tara Sheneva Williams v. Deborah K. Johnson, Acting Warden
Citations: 573 U.S. ___;
Laws applied: U.S. Const. amend. VI
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

573 U.S. ___
Decided July 1, 2014.
Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded for consideration of Williams' Sixth Amendment claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).

Notes

  1. ↑ The description of one opinion has been omitted; the Court's opinion in Madigan v. Levin, 571 U.S. ___ (2013), was a one-line dismissal of certiorari as improvidently granted.

References

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