2009 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Anthony Kennedy

The table below lists all opinions filed by Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy during the 2009 term of the Supreme Court of the United States, which began October 5, 2009 and concluded October 3, 2010. This was the twenty-third term of Kennedy’s tenure on the Court.
Anthony Kennedy 2009 term statistics
9
 Majority or Plurality
8
 Concurrence
1
 Other
4
 Dissent
0
 Concurrence/dissent Total = 22
Bench opinions = 21 Opinions relating to orders = 1 In-chambers opinions = 0
Unanimous decisions: 0 Most joined by: Roberts, Alito (10) Least joined by: Stevens (5)
Case Issue Joined by


 DTD Enterprises, Inc. v. Wells
558 U.S. ___ (2009)
 Roberts, Sotomayor
Kennedy filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of certiorari, to note that, although he agreed with the denial in this instance, the petition for certiorari raised issues of constitutional importance. In a class action lawsuit, the New Jersey state trial court had imposed the costs of class notification upon the defendants apparently for no other reason than their ability to pay it. Kennedy believed that serious Due Process implications were raised if New Jersey law permitted this solely based on the relative wealth of the parties, without any consideration of the underlying merits of the case. As the petition to the Court was interlocutory, however, due to the state courts denying leave to appeal, the Court would have to interpret state law without any state court opinion on the matter. Further, the defendant had declared bankruptcy, and the applicability of the automatic stay raised an unrelated procedural obstacle to the case. Kennedy believed that under those circumstances, it was best to deny the petition notwithstanding the substantive constitutional issues.


 Beard v. Kindler
558 U.S. ___ (2009)
 Thomas


 Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n
558 U.S. ___ (2010)
 First Amendment: free speech: campaign finance restrictions Roberts, Scalia, Alito; Stevens, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor (in part)


 Perdue v. Kenny A.
559 U.S. ___ (2010)


Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA
559 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Alito


 Salazar v. Buono
559 U.S. ___ (2010)
 First Establishment: Establishment Clause Roberts, Alito (in part)


 Abbott v. Abbott
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Roberts, Scalia, Ginsburg, Alito, Sotomayor


 Graham v. Florida
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor


 United States v. Comstock
560 U.S. ___ (2010)


United States v. O'Brien
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Roberts, Stevens, Scalia, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor


 Alabama v. North Carolina
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Sotomayor


 Berghuis v. Thompkins
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito


 Levin v. Commerce Energy, Inc.
560 U.S. ___ (2010)


Barber v. Thomas
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Stevens, Ginsburg


 New Process Steel, L. P. v. NLRB
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor


 Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Sotomayor


 Ontario v. Quon
560 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Fourth Amendment rights of public employees using employer-issued pagers Roberts, Stevens, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor; Scalia (in part)


 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. v. Regal-Beloit Corp.
561 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Breyer, Alito


 Magwood v. Patterson
561 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Roberts, Ginsburg, Alito


 Black v. United States
561 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Thomas


 Bilski v. Kappos
561 U.S. ___ (2010)
 Roberts, Thomas, Alito; Scalia (in part)


 Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez
561 U.S. ___ (2010)

References