October Term 2021

66 opinions

• Biden v. Texas
  2022-06-30 · 597 U. S. 785 (2022)
  5–4 — Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Barrett dissenting
• West Virginia v. EPA
  2022-06-30 · 597 U. S. 697 (2022)
  6–2 — Kagan, Breyer dissenting
• Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta
  2022-06-29 · 597 U. S. 629 (2022) · Reversed and remanded
  5-4 — Gorsuch, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting

  The federal government and the state have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country.

• Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety
  2022-06-29 · 597 U. S. 580 (2022)
  5-4 — Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Barrett dissenting

  By ratifying the Constitution, the states agreed their sovereignty would yield to the national power to raise and support the Armed Forces; Congress may exercise this power to authorize private damages suits against non-consenting states, as in the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 .

• Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist.
  2022-06-27 · 597 U. S. 507 (2022) · Reversed
  5–3 — Sotomayor, Breyer, Kagan dissenting
• Concepcion v. United States
  2022-06-27 · 597 U. S. 481 (2022)
  5-4 — Kavanaugh, Roberts, Alito, Barrett dissenting

  Section 404(b) of the First Step Act of 2018 allows district courts to consider intervening changes of law or fact in exercising their discretion to reduce a sentence.

• Xiulu Ruan v. United States
  2022-06-27 · 597 U. S. 450 (2022)
  Unanimous
• Becerra v. Empire Health Foundation, For Valley Hospital Medical Center
  2022-06-24 · 597 U. S. 424 (2022)
  5–4 — Kavanaugh, Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch dissenting
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
  2022-06-24 · 597 U. S. 215 (2022)
  5–3 — Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting
• Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP
  2022-06-23 · 597 U. S. 179 (2022) · Reversed
  8-1 — Sotomayor dissenting

  The speaker of the North Carolina State House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the North Carolina State Senate are entitled to intervene in this litigation challenging North Carolina's voter-ID law.

• Nance v. Ward
  2022-06-23 · 597 U. S. 159 (2022)
  5-4 — Barrett, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch dissenting

  Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is the procedural vehicle appropriate for a prisoner's method-of-execution claim even if an order granting the relief requested would necessitate a change in state law.

• Vega v. Tekoh
  2022-06-23 · 597 U. S. 134 (2022)
  6-3 — Kagan, Breyer, Sotomayor dissenting

  A violation of the prophylactic rules described in Miranda v. Arizona does not provide a basis for a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 .

• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen
  2022-06-23 · 597 U. S. 1 (2022)
  6–3 — Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting
• Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc.
  2022-06-21 · 596 U. S. 880 (2022)
  7-2 — Kagan, Sotomayor dissenting

  The Medicare Secondary Payer statute does not authorize disparate-impact liability, and the Marietta Plan's coverage terms for outpatient dialysis do not violate 42 U.S.C. § 1395y(b)(1)(C) because those terms apply uniformly to all covered individuals.

• United States v. Taylor
  2022-06-21 · 596 U. S. 845 (2022)
  7-2 — Thomas, Alito dissenting

  Attempted Hobbs Act robbery does not qualify as a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A) because no element of the offense requires proof that the defendant used, attempted to use, or threatened to use force.

• United States v. Washington
  2022-06-21 · 596 U. S. 832 (2022)
  9-0

  Washington's workers' compensation law is unconstitutional under the supremacy clause because it facially discriminates against the federal government and does not fall within the scope of the federal waiver of immunity contained in 40 U.S.C. § 3172 .

• Shoop v. Twyford
  2022-06-21 · 596 U. S. 811 (2022)
  5-4 — Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch dissenting

  A transportation order that allows a prisoner to search for new evidence, in this case an order compelling the state to transport Raymond Twyford to a medical facility for neurological testing, is not "necessary or appropriate in aid of" a federal court's adjudication of a habeas corpus action when the prisoner has not shown that the desired evidence would be admissible in connection with a particular claim for relief.

• Carson v. Makin
  2022-06-21 · 596 U. S. 767 (2022)
  6-3 — Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor dissenting

  Maine's "nonsectarian" requirement for otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments to parents who live in school districts that do not operate a secondary school of their own violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.

• Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco
  2022-06-15 · 596 U. S. 763 (2022)
  Unanimous
• George v. McDonough
  2022-06-15 · 596 U. S. 740 (2022)
  6-3 — Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Breyer dissenting

  The invalidation of a Department of Veterans Affairs regulation after a veteran's benefits decision becomes final cannot support a claim for collateral relief permitting revision of that decision based on "clear and unmistakable error" under 38 U.S.C. §§ 5109A and 7111 .

• American Hospital Assn. v. Becerra
  2022-06-15 · 596 U. S. 724 (2022)
  Unanimous
• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas
  2022-06-15 · 596 U. S. 685 (2022)
  5-4 — Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh dissenting

  The federal legislation at issue, the Ysleta del Sur and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas Restoration Act , bans as a matter of federal law on tribal lands only those gaming activities also banned in Texas.

• Golan v. Saada
  2022-06-15 · 596 U. S. 666 (2022)
  9-0

  A court is not categorically required to examine all possible ameliorative measures before denying a Hague Convention petition for return of a child to a foreign country once the court has found that return would expose the child to a grave risk of harm.

• Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana
  2022-06-15 · 596 U. S. 639 (2022) · Reversed and remanded
  8-1 — Thomas dissenting

  The Federal Arbitration Act preempts a rule of California law that invalidates contractual waivers of the right to assert representative claims under PAGA, the California Private Attorneys General Act , insofar as that rule precludes division of PAGA actions into individual and non-individual claims through an agreement to arbitrate.

• ZF Automotive U. S., Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd.
  2022-06-13 · 596 U. S. 619 (2022)
  Unanimous
• Denezpi v. United States
  2022-06-13 · 596 U. S. 591 (2022)
  6-3 — Gorsuch, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting

  The double jeopardy clause does not bar successive prosecutions of distinct offenses arising from a single act, even if a single sovereign prosecutes them.

• Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez
  2022-06-13 · 596 U. S. 573 (2022) · Reversed and remanded
  8–1 — Breyer dissenting
• Garland v. Gonzalez
  2022-06-13 · 596 U. S. 543 (2022)
  6-3 — dissenting

  8 U.S.C. § 1252(f)(1) , which generally strips lower courts of "jurisdiction or authority" to "enjoin or restrain the operation of" certain provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, deprived the district courts of jurisdiction in these cases to entertain respondents' requests for class-wide injunctive relief.

• Kemp v. United States
  2022-06-13 · 596 U. S. 528 (2022)
  8-1 — Gorsuch dissenting

  The term "mistake" in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1) includes a judge's errors of law; because Dexter Kemp's motion alleged such an error, it was cognizable under Rule 60(b)(1) and untimely under Rule 60(c)'s one-year limitations period.

• Egbert v. Boule
  2022-06-08 · 596 U. S. 482 (2022)
  6-3 — dissenting

  The authority of a court to imply a cause of action under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics does not extend to either Robert Boule's Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim or his First Amendment retaliation claim.

• Siegel v. Fitzgerald
  2022-06-06 · 596 U. S. 464 (2022)
  9-0

  Congress's enactment of a significant fee increase that exempted debtors in two states violated the uniformity requirement of the bankruptcy clause.

• Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon
  2022-06-06 · 596 U. S. 450 (2022)
  8-0

  Airplane cargo loaders and ramp supervisors who, like petitioner Latrice Saxon, frequently load and unload airplane cargo belong to a "class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce" exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act's coverage.

• Gallardo v. Marstiller
  2022-06-06 · 596 U. S. 420 (2022)
  7-2 — Sotomayor, Breyer dissenting

  The Medicaid Act permits a state to seek reimbursement from settlement payments allocated for future medical care.

• Morgan v. Sundance, Inc.
  2022-05-23 · 596 U. S. 411 (2022)
  9-0

  Federal courts may not adopt an arbitration-specific rule conditioning a waiver of the right to arbitrate on a showing of prejudice.

• Shinn v. Martinez Ramirez
  2022-05-23 · 596 U. S. 366 (2022)
  6–3 — Sotomayor, Breyer, Kagan dissenting
• Patel v. Garland
  2022-05-16 · 596 U. S. 328 (2022)
  5-4 — Gorsuch, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting

  Federal courts lack jurisdiction to review facts found as part of any judgment relating to the granting of discretionary relief in immigration proceedings enumerated under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2) .

• Federal Election Comm’n v. Ted Cruz
  2022-05-16 · 596 U. S. 289 (2022)
  6–2 — Kagan, Breyer dissenting
• Shurtleff v. Boston
  2022-05-02 · 596 U. S. 243 (2022)
  9-0

  Because Boston's flag-raising program did not constitute government speech, Boston's refusal to let petitioners fly their flag violated the free speech clause of the First Amendment.

• LeDure v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.
  2022-04-28
• Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller
  2022-04-28 · 596 U. S. 212 (2022)
  6–3 — Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting
• Boechler v. Commissioner
  2022-04-21 · 596 U. S. 199 (2022)
  Unanimous
• United States v. Vaello Madero
  2022-04-21 · 596 U. S. 159 (2022)
  8-1 — Sotomayor dissenting

  The Constitution does not require Congress to extend Supplemental Security Income benefits to residents of Puerto Rico.

• Brown v. Davenport
  2022-04-21 · 596 U. S. 118 (2022) · Reversed
  6-3 — Kagan, Breyer, Sotomayor dissenting

  When a state court has ruled on the merits of a state prisoner's claim, a federal court cannot grant habeas relief without applying both the test the Supreme Court outlined in Brecht v. Abrahamson and the one Congress prescribed in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit erred in granting habeas relief to Ervine Davenport based solely on its assessment that he could satisfy the Brecht standard.

• Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation
  2022-04-21 · 596 U. S. 107 (2022)
  9-0

  In a suit raising non-federal claims against a foreign state or instrumentality under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a court should determine the substantive law by using the same choice-of-law rule applicable in a similar suit against a private party.

• City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC
  2022-04-21 · 596 U. S. 61 (2022)
  5–4 — Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Barrett dissenting
• Thompson v. Clark
  2022-04-04 · 596 U. S. 36 (2022)
  6-3 — Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch dissenting

  Larry Thompson's showing that his criminal prosecution ended without a conviction satisfies the requirement to demonstrate a favorable termination of a criminal prosecution in a Fourth Amendment claim under Section 1983 for malicious prosecution; an affirmative indication of innocence is not needed.

• Badgerow v. Walters
  2022-03-31 · 596 U. S. 1 (2022)
  8-1 — Breyer dissenting

  Federal jurisdiction in a petition to compel arbitration under Section 4 of the Federal Arbitration Act is determined by "looking through" the petition to the jurisdictional basis of the "underlying substantive controversy," Vaden v. Discover Bank , but that approach does not apply to petitions to confirm or vacate arbitral awards under Sections 9 and 10 of the FAA.

• Houston Community College System v. Wilson
  2022-03-24 · 595 U. S. 468 (2022) · Reversed
  9-0

  Respondent David Wilson does not possess an actionable First Amendment claim arising from his purely verbal censure by the Board of Trustees of the Houston Community College System.

• Ramirez v. Collier
  2022-03-24 · 595 U. S. 411 (2022)
  8-1 — Thomas dissenting

  Petitioner John Ramirez is likely to succeed on his claims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act because Texas' restrictions on religious touch and audible prayer in the execution chamber burden religious exercise and are not the least restrictive means of furthering the state's compelling interests.

• Wisconsin Legislature v. Wisconsin Elections Commission
  2022-03-23 · 595 U. S. 398 (2022)
  0–2 — Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting

  In adopting the Wisconsin governor's proposed redistricting plan, which increases the number of majority-Black Assembly districts, the Wisconsin Supreme Court committed legal error by failing to properly apply strict scrutiny to determine whether the state's race-based sorting of voters is narrowly tailored to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

• Wooden v. United States
  2022-03-07 · 595 U. S. 360 (2022)
  9-0

  William Dale Wooden's ten burglary offenses arising from a single criminal episode did not occur on different "occasions" and thus count as only one prior conviction under the Armed Career Criminal Act .

• FBI v. Fazaga
  2022-03-04 · 595 U. S. 344 (2022)
  Unanimous
• United States v. Tsarnaev
  2022-03-04 · 595 U. S. 302 (2022)
  6-3 — Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting

  The judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit vacating Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's capital sentences is reversed.

• Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center, P. S. C.
  2022-03-03 · 595 U. S. 267 (2022)
  6–1 — Sotomayor dissenting
• United States v. Zubaydah
  2022-03-03 · 595 U. S. 195 (2022)
  4–3 — Kagan, Gorsuch, Sotomayor dissenting
• Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L. P.
  2022-02-24 · 595 U. S. 178 (2022)
  6–3 — Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch dissenting
• Hughes v. Northwestern Univ.
  2022-01-24 · 595 U. S. 170 (2022)
  Unanimous
• Hemphill v. New York
  2022-01-20 · 595 U. S. 140 (2022)
  8-1 — Thomas dissenting

  The trial court's admission, over Hemphill's objection, of the plea allocution transcript of an unavailable witness violated Hemphill's Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him.

• NFIB v. OSHA
  2022-01-13 · 595 U. S. 109 (2022)
  2–3 — Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting
• Biden v. Missouri
  2022-01-13 · 595 U. S. 87 (2022)
  5-4 — Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Barrett dissenting

  The court grants the applications to stay the two injunctions barring the Secretary of Health and Human Services' regulation requiring facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid to ensure that their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19.

• Babcock v. Kijakazi
  2022-01-13 · 595 U. S. 77 (2022)
  8-1 — Gorsuch dissenting

  Civil-service pension payments based on employment as a dual-status military technician are not payments based on "service as a member of a uniformed service" under 42 U.S.C. § 415(a)(7)(A)(III) .

• United States v. Texas
  2021-12-10 · 595 U. S. 74 (2021)
  4-4 — dissenting

  Judgment affirmed by an equally divided court.

• Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson
  2021-12-10 · 595 U. S. 30 (2021)
  0–5 — Thomas, Roberts, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan dissenting
• Mississippi v. Tennessee
  2021-11-22 · 595 U. S. 15 (2021)
  9-0

  The waters of the Middle Claiborne Aquifer are subject to the judicial remedy of equitable apportionment; Mississippi"s complaint is dismissed without leave to amend.

• City of Tahlequah v. Bond
  2021-10-18 · 595 U. S. 9 (2021)
• Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna
  2021-10-18 · 595 U. S. 1 (2021)

  Officer Rivas-Villegas is entitled to qualified immunity in this excessive force action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit's holding that circuit precedent "put him on notice that his conduct constituted excessive force" is reversed.