2008 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down nine per curiam opinions during its 2008 term, which began on October 6, 2008 and concluded October 4, 2009.[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.

Contents

Court membership

Chief Justice: John Roberts

Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito

Moore v. United States

Full case name: James Eric Moore v. United States
Citations: 555 U.S. ___;
Prior history: Defendant convicted, sentenced, N.D. Ia.; aff'd, 470 F. 3d 767 (8th Cir. 2006); vacated and remanded, 552 U. S. ___ (2008); aff'd, 518 F. 3d 577 (2008)
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

555 U.S. ___
Decided Decided October 14, 2008.
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded

Brunner v. Ohio Republican Party

Full case name: Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State v. Ohio Republican Party et al.
Citations: 555 U.S. ___;
Prior history: TRO granted, S.D. Oh., Oct. 9, 2008; motion to vacate denied, (6th Cir.
Full text of the opinion: official slip opinion

555 U.S. ___
Decided October 14, 2008.
The Court granted the application for a stay, and vacated the temporary restraining order entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Hedgpeth v. Pulido

555 U.S. ___

Decided December 2, 2008

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded.

Justice Stevens filed a dissent, joined by Justices Souter and Ginsburg.
Full case name: Anthony Hedgpeth, Warden, v. Michael Robert Pulido
Citations: 555 U.S. ___
Prior history: Defendant's conviction upheld, sub. nom., People v. Pulido, 936 P.2d 1235 (Cal. 1997); Petiton granted, sub nom., Pulido v. Lamarque, No. 99–4933, (N.D. Cal. Mar. 24, 2005); aff'd, sub nom., Pulido v. Chrones, 487 F.3d 669 (9th Cir. 2007), cert. granted, 552 U.S. ___ (2008)
Full text of the Court's decision (.pdf)

Spears v. United States

555 U.S. ___

Decided January 21, 2009

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.

Kennedy would have submitted the case for oral argument. Thomas dissented without opinion. Roberts filed a dissent, joined by Alito.
Full case name: Steven Spears v. United States
Citations: 555 U.S. ___
Prior history: Defendant convicted, sentenced; sentencing reversed, remanded, 469 F.3d 1166 (8th Circuit 2006); vacated, remanded, 552 U. S. ___ (2008); reversed, remanded, 533 F. 3d 715 (8th Cir. 2008)
Full text of the Court's decision (.pdf)

Nelson v. United States

555 U.S. ___

Decided January 26, 2009

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.

Breyer filed a concurrence, which Alito joined.
Full case name: Lawrence W. Nelson, aka Zikee v. United States
Citations: 555 U.S. ___
Prior history: Conviction and sentencing affirmed, 237 Fed. Appx. 819 (4th Cir. 2007); vacated, remanded, 552 U.S. ___ (2008); sentence affirmed, 276 Fed. Appx. 331 (4th Cir. 2008)
Full text of the Court's decision (.pdf)

CSX Transp., Inc. v. Hensley

556 U.S. ___

Decided June 1, 2009

Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.

Stevens and Ginsburg filed dissents.
Full case name: CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Thurston Hensley
Citations: 556 U.S. ___
Prior history: Judgment for plaintiff; aff'd, 278 S.W. 3d 282 (Tenn. 2008)
Full text of the Court's decision (.pdf)

Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler LLC

Main article: Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler LLC
556 U.S. ___

Decided June 9, 2009

Application for stay denied.
Full case name: Indiana State Police Pension Trust, et al. v. Chrysler LLC, et al.
Citations: 556 U.S. ___
Prior history: Restructuring plan approved, Bankr. S.D.N.Y., May 31, 2009; aff'd, 2d Cir., June 5, 2009; temporary stay granted, 556 U.S. ___ (2009) (Ginsburg, J.)
Full text of the Court's decision (.pdf)

Notes

  1. ^ The description of two decisions have been omitted. In Bell v. Kelly, 555 U.S. ___ (2008), and Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Williams, 556 U.S. ___ (2009), the Court dismissed certiorari as improvidently granted.

References

Supreme Court of the United States 2008 term (October 6, 2008 - October 4, 2009)
Opinions by justice:
Chief Justice Roberts | Associate Justices Stevens | Scalia | Kennedy | Souter | Thomas | Ginsburg | Breyer | Alito