2009 term United States Supreme Court opinions of John Paul Stevens

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
2-01



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."
4-02



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

 Fourth Amendment  • emergency aid exception Sotomayor
per curiam
3-03



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

 Case or Controversy Clause  • mootness
Breyer
2-04



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

 Eighth Amendment  • death penalty  • jury instructions on mitigation  • Sixth Amendment  • ineffective assistance of counsel
Breyer
4-05



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
4-06



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

 habeas corpus  • Sixth Amendment  • ineffective assistance of counsel Kennedy
Sotomayor
3-07



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
5-08



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."

5-09



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.
5-10



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.
4-11



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

 Fifth Amendment  • Miranda warning  • adequate and independent state ground doctrine Breyer (in part)
Ginsburg
2-12



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

 Fifth Amendment  • Miranda rights  • release to general prison population as break in custody
Scalia
 Thomas
1-13



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
1-14



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
2-15



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
2-16



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
4-17



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
4-18



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

 Fifth Amendment  • Double Jeopardy Clause  • retrial after mistrial Sotomayor; Breyer (in part)
Roberts
4-19



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.
4-20



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
2-21



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
1-22



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
2-23



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

 use of machine gun in federal crime as element or sentencing factor
Kennedy
 Thomas
2-24



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
4-25



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
1-26



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
1-27



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
1-28



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
2-29



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

 Fourth Amendment  • government review of employee text messages
Kennedy
 Scalia
4-30



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

 United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines  • sentence reduction  • possession of crack cocaine
Sotomayor
4-31



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
4-32



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

 Plant Protection Act  • deregulation of genetically modified plants  • Article III  • standing
Alito
2-33



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

 public disclosure of referendum petitions  • First Amendment  • free speech Breyer
Roberts
 Scalia
 Breyer
 Alito
 Sotomayor
 Thomas
2-34



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
2-35



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

 patent law  • patentability of business method Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor
Kennedy
 Breyer
2-36



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
4-37



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

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

References

Judicial opinions of John Paul Stevens
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1970–1975); by calendar year
  • 1970
  • 1971
  • 1972
  • 1973
  • 1974
  • 1975
Supreme Court of the United States (December 19, 1975 – June 29, 2010); by term
Supreme Court of the United States 2009 term (October 5, 2009 - October 3, 2010)
Opinions by justice:
Chief Justice Roberts | Associate Justices Stevens | Scalia | Kennedy | Thomas | Ginsburg | Breyer | Alito | Sotomayor
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