2003 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Antonin Scalia

The 2003 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 6, 2003, and concluded October 3, 2004. This was the eighteenth term of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia's tenure on the Court.
Antonin Scalia 2003 term statistics
9
Majority or Plurality
10
Concurrence
1
Other
12
Dissent
2
Concurrence/dissent Total = 34
Bench opinions = 30 Opinions relating to orders = 4 In-chambers opinions = 0
Unanimous opinions: 2 Most joined by: Thomas (14) Least joined by: Souter (4)
Type Case Citation Issues Joined by Other opinions
101



Barnhart v. Thomas 540 U.S. 20 (2003)

Unanimous
302



McConnell v. Federal Election Commission 540 U.S. 93 (2003)

U.S. Const. amend. I  • campaign finance reform
Stevens and O'Connor
Rehnquist
Breyer
Kennedy
Thomas
Rehnquist
Stevens
203



Castro v. United States 540 U.S. 375 (2003)

Thomas
Breyer
104



Verizon Communications Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko LLP 540 U.S. 398 (2004)

Antitrust  • telecommunications Rehnquist, O'Connor, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer
Stevens
Scalia's 6-justice majority ruled that the allegation that an incumbent LEC had breached its duty under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to share its network with competitors failed to state a claim under § 2 of the Sherman Act.
405



General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline 540 U.S. 581 (2004)

Employment discrimination
Souter
Thomas
Scalia dissented from Souter's 6-3 judgment that the EEOC had incorrectly interpreted the ADEA as prohibiting employers from favoring older over younger workers. Scalia would defer to the EEOC, whose regulation he believed was a reasonable interpretation of a statute that did not unambiguously require a different interpretation.
406



Olympic Airways v. Husain 540 U.S. 644 (2004)

Warsaw Convention O'Connor (in part)
Thomas
Scalia dissented from Thomas' 6-2 decision, which he criticized for failing to give any serious consideration to how courts of the partners of the U.S. in the Warsaw Convention had resolved the same legal issues
407



Locke v. Davey 540 U.S. 712 (2004)

Establishment Clause  • state funding of religious education Thomas
Rehnquist
Thomas
Scalia dissented from Rehnquist's 7–2 decision. Scalia believed that Washington's scholarship program facially discriminated against religion by excluding only theology from the applicable subjects of study, "no less than if it had imposed a special tax." Scalia believed the plaintiff student was not asking for a "special benefit," but instead sought "only equal treatment."
408



Concrete Works of Colorado, Inc. v. City and County of Denver 540 U.S. 1027 (2003)

Rehnquist
Scalia dissented from the denial of certiorari.
209



Raymond B. Yates, M.D., P.C. Profit Sharing Plan v. Hendon 541 U.S. 1 (2004)

Ginsburg
Thomas
Scalia believed that the Court "use[d] a sledgehammer to kill a gnat...The Department [of Revenue]'s interpretive conclusion is certainly reasonable (the Court's lengthy analysis says that it is inevitable); it is therefore binding upon us. I would reverse the judgment of the Sixth Circuit on that basis. The Court's approach, which denies many agency interpretations their conclusive effect and thrusts the courts into authoritative judicial interpretation, deprives administrative agencies of two of their principal virtues: (1) the power to resolve statutory questions promptly, and with nationwide effect, and (2) the power (within the reasonable bounds of the text) to change the application of ambiguous laws as time and experience dictate. The Court's approach invites lengthy litigation in all the circuits--the product of which (when finally announced by this Court) is a rule of law that only Congress can change."
110



Crawford v. Washington 541 U.S. 36 (2004)

U.S. Const. amend. VI  • Confrontation Clause Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer
Rehnquist
The Court ruled that the use in court of out-of-court statements made to police in an investigative capacity violated the Sixth Amendment right to confront accusing witnesses.
511



Cheney v. United States District Court 540 U.S. 913 (2004)

Recusal
Scalia declined to recuse himself from a case involving Vice-President Cheney, who had recently provided Scalia with a plane ride to a duck-hunting trip. Scalia remarked that "[i]f it is reasonable to think that a Supreme Court Justice can be bought so cheap, the Nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined." He also did not believe his friendship with the Vice-President demanded recusal, because Cheney's "personal fortune or personal freedom were not at issue," only his official actions in a "run-of-the-mill legal dispute about an administrative decision."
312



S. Fla. Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians 541 U.S. 95 (2004)

O'Connor
Scalia also joined the majority's decision in part.
213



Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League 541 U.S. 125 (2004)

Thomas
Souter
Stevens
114



Engine Mfrs. Ass'n v. S. Coast Air Quality Mgmt. Dist. 541 U.S. 246 (2004)

Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer
Souter
115



Vieth v. Jubelirer 541 U.S. 267 (2004)

Rehnquist, O'Connor, Thomas
Kennedy
Stevens
Souter
Breyer
416



Till v. SCS Credit Corp. 541 U.S. 465 (2004)

Rehnquist, O'Connor, Kennedy
Stevens
Thomas
417



Tennessee v. Lane 541 U.S. 509 (2004)

Sovereign immunity  • U.S. Const. amend. XI  • Americans with Disabilities Act
Stevens
Souter
Ginsburg
Rehnquist
Thomas
118



Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L.P. 541 U.S. 567 (2004)

Rehnquist, O'Connor, Kennedy, Thomas
Ginsburg
219



Thornton v. United States 541 U.S. 615 (2004)

Ginsburg
Rehnquist
O'Connor
Stevens
220



Republic of Austria v. Altmann 541 U.S. 677 (2004)

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
Stevens
Breyer
Kennedy
Scalia also joined Stevens' 6-3 majority opinion.
221



City of Littleton v. Z. J. Gifts D-4, L.L.C. 541 U.S. 774 (2004)

Breyer
Stevens
Souter
422



Bunting v. Mellen 541 U.S. 1019 (2004)

U.S. Const. amend. I  • Establishment Clause Rehnquist
Stevens
Scalia dissented from the denial of certiorari.
223



F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd v. Empagran S. A. 542 U.S. 155 (2004)

Thomas
Breyer
224



United States v. Dominguez Benitez 542 U.S. 74 (2004)

Souter
125



Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance 542 U.S. 55 (2004)

Unanimous
226



Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 542 U.S. 241 (2004)

Ginsburg
Breyer
127



Blakely v. Washington 542 U.S. 296 (2004)

U.S. Const. amend. VI  • right to jury trial Stevens, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg
O'Connor
Kennedy
Breyer
Scalia wrote for five justices invalidating criminal sentencing system in which judges were the finders of fact for aggravating factors. O'Connor, Kennedy, and Breyer filed dissents.
128



Schriro v. Summerlin 542 U.S. 348 (2004)

Rehnquist, O'Connor, Kennedy, Thomas
Breyer
429



Tennard v. Dretke 542 U.S. 274 (2004)

O'Connor
Rehnquist
Thomas
430



Rasul v. Bush 542 U.S. 466 (2004)

Rehnquist, Thomas
Stevens
Kennedy
431



Hamdi v. Rumsfeld 542 U.S. 507 (2004)

U.S. Const. amend. V  • habeas corpus Stevens
O'Connor
Souter
Thomas
Scalia wrote that if habeas corpus has not been suspended by Congress, U.S. citizens must be tried in ordinary criminal courts. He believed the plurality was misguided in attempting to fashion alternative procedures that might comply with due process, because the role of the Court was simply to declare that the procedures at issue were unconstitutional.
432



Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union 542 U.S. 656 (2004)

Kennedy
Stevens
Breyer
233



Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain 542 U.S. 692 (2004)

Rehnquist, Thomas
Souter
Ginsburg
Breyer
Scalia concurred in part and concurred in the judgment.
434



Cox v. Larios 542 U.S. 947 (2004)

Legislative redistricting
Stevens
Scalia dissented from the Court's summary affirmance.

References

  • "2003 Term Opinions of the Court". Supreme Court of the United States. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  • "2003 Term Opinions Relating to Orders". Supreme Court of the United States. Archived from the original on March 9, 2005. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  • "2003 Term In-Chambers Opinions". Supreme Court of the United States. Archived from the original on February 14, 2005. Retrieved December 23, 2016.