2013 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down eight per curiam opinions during its 2013 term, which began October 7, 2013 and concluded October 5, 2014.[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.

Court membership edit

Chief Justice: John Roberts

Associate Justices: Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan

Stanton v. Sims edit

Full caption:Mike Stanton v. Drendolyn Sims
Citations:571 U.S. 3
Prior history:Summary judgment granted to defendant, No. 3:09-cv-01356 (S.D. Cal.); rev'd, 706 F. 3d 954 (9th Cir. 2013)
Laws applied:U.S. Const. amend. IV
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Full text of the opinion:official slip opinion

571 U.S. 3
Decided November 4, 2013.
Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.

A bystander was seriously injured when a police officer, in hot pursuit of a misdemeanor suspect, kicked open the gate to her yard. She sued the officer for violating her Fourth Amendment rights by his warrantless entry into the curtilage of her property, but the district court held that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity and granted him summary judgment. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit reversed, ruling that there was no basis for warrantless entry because there were no exigent circumstances and the fleeing suspect's alleged offense was minor.

The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit, finding that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity because there was not "clearly established law" on the issue. Instead, federal and state courts were "sharply divided on the question whether an officer with probable cause to arrest a suspect for a misdemeanor may enter a home without a warrant while in hot pursuit of that suspect." The officer could, therefore, not be found "plainly incompetent" in violating the plaintiff's constitutional rights.

Ford Motor Co. v. United States edit

Full caption:Ford Motor Company v. United States
Citations:571 U.S. 28
Prior history:Judgment for defendant, E.D. Mich. June 3, 2010; aff'd, 508 Fed. Appx. 506 (6th Cir. 2012)
Laws applied:26 U.S.C. § 6611(b); 28 U.S.C. § 1346; 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a) (Tucker Act)
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Full text of the opinion:official slip opinion

571 U.S. 28
Decided December 2, 2013.
Sixth Circuit vacated and remanded.

Unite Here Local 355 v. Mulhall edit

Full caption:Unite Here Local 355 v. Martin Mulhall et al.
Citations:571 U.S. 83
Prior history:Complaint dismissed, No. 0:08-cv-61766-PAS (S.D. Fla. Apr. 22, 2009); rev'd, 618 F. 3d 1279 (11th Cir. 2010); complaint dismissed, No. 0:08-cv-61766-PAS, S.D. Fla.; rev'd, 667 F. 3d 1211 (11th Cir. 2012); cert. granted, 570 U.S. 915 (2013)
Laws applied:29 U.S.C. § 186 (section 302 of the Labor Management Relations Act)
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Full text of the opinion:official slip opinion

571 U.S. 83
Argued November 13, 2013.
Decided December 10, 2013.
The Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.

Breyer filed a dissent, joined by Sotomayor and Kagan.

Hinton v. Alabama edit

Full caption:Anthony Ray Hinton v. Alabama
Citations:571 U.S. 263
Prior history:Postconviction petition denied, Ala. Cir. Ct.; aff'd, 2006 WL 1125605 (Ala. Crim. App., Apr. 28, 2006); rev'd and remanded, 2008 WL 4603723 (Ala. Oct. 17, 2008); remanded, 8 WL 5517591 (Ala. Crim. App., Dec. 19, 2008); aff'd, CR-04-0940, (Ala. Crim. App., Aug. 26, 2011); rev'd and remanded, sub nom. Ex Parte Hinton, No. 1110129 (Ala., Nov. 9, 2012); aff'd, sub nom. Hinton v. State, CR-04-0940 (Ala. Crim. App, Feb. 15, 2013); review denied, No. 1110129 (Ala., 2013)
Laws applied:U.S. Const. amend. VI
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Full text of the opinion:official slip opinion

571 U.S. 263
Decided February 24, 2014.
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama vacated and remanded.

Tolan v. Cotton edit

Full caption:Robert R. Tolan v. Jeffrey Wayne Cotton
Citations:572 U.S. 650
Prior history:Summary judgment granted to defendant, 854 F. Supp. 2d 444 (S.D. Tex. 2012); aff'd, 713 F. 3d 299 (5th Cir. 2013); rehearing en banc denied, 538 Fed. Appx. 374 (5th Cir. 2013)
Laws applied:Fed. R. Civ. P. 56
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Full text of the opinion:official slip opinion

572 U.S. 650
Decided May 5, 2014.
Fifth Circuit vacated and remanded.

Alito filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by Scalia.

Martinez v. Illinois edit

Full caption:Esteban Martinez v. Illinois
Citations:572 U.S. 833
Prior history:Directed verdict for defendant, Ill. Cir. Ct., Kane Cty., May 17, 2010; rev'd, 969 N.E. 2d 840 (Ill. App. Ct. 2011); aff'd, 990 N.E. 2d 215 (Ill. 2013)
Laws applied:U.S. Const. amend. V
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Full text of the opinion:official slip opinion

572 U.S. 833
Decided May 27, 2014.
Supreme Court of Illinois reversed and remanded.

Williams v. Johnson edit

Full caption:Tara Sheneva Williams v. Deborah K. Johnson, Acting Warden
Citations:573 U.S. 773
Laws applied:U.S. Const. amend. VI
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Full text of the opinion:official slip opinion

573 U.S. 773
Decided July 1, 2014.
Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The description of one opinion has been omitted: in Madigan v. Levin, 571 U.S. 1 (2013), the Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.

References edit

  • "2013 Term Opinions of the Court". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 6, 2014.