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2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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The 2010 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 4, 2010, and concluded October 1, 2011. This was the eighteenth term of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's tenure on the Court.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2010 term statistics
9
Majority or Plurality
7
Concurrence
0
Other
7
Dissent
1
Concurrence/dissent Total = 24
Bench opinions = 23 Opinions relating to orders = 1 In-chambers opinions = 0
Unanimous opinions: 2 Most joined by: Breyer (15) Least joined by: Kennedy, Thomas (6)
Type Case Citation Issues Joined by Other opinions
101



Abbott v. United States • [full text] 562 U.S. 8 (2010)

federal criminal law  • mandatory sentencing  • statutory interpretation  • gun laws Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor
Ginsburg's opinion for the Court ruled that 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), which required a minimum five-year prison sentence for the involvement of a deadly weapon in federal drug trafficking or violent offenses, was to be imposed in addition to any other mandatory sentence given for another crime, including the underlying offense. The only exception to the five-year addition applied only when another provision required a longer mandatory term for conduct violating §924(c) specifically, rather than a mandatory sentence for another crime as the defendants had unsuccessfully argued.
202



Harrington v. Richter 562 U.S. 86 (2010)

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996  • habeas corpus  • bar against relitigating claims  • presumption of state court adjudication on merits  • Sixth Amendment  • ineffective assistance of counsel
Kennedy
203



Premo v. Moore 562 U.S. 115 (2010)

Sixth Amendment  • ineffective assistance of counsel
Kennedy
204



Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP 562 U.S. 170 (2011)

Title VII  • employer retaliation against third-party Breyer
Scalia
105



Ortiz v. Jordan 562 U.S. 180 (2011)

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure  • appealability of denial of summary judgment motion after trial on the merits  • qualified immunity  • post-trial judicial review of sufficiency of the evidence Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan
Thomas
206



Swarthout v. Cooke 562 U.S. 216 (2011)

Due Process Clause  • denial of parole
per curiam
107



Walker v. Martin 562 U.S. 307 (2011)

habeas corpus  • independent and adequate state procedural ground as basis for state judgment Unanimous
408



Michigan v. Bryant 562 U.S. 344 (2011)

Sixth Amendment  • Confrontation Clause  • hearsay exception for statements to help police address ongoing emergency
Sotomayor
Thomas
Scalia
109



Skinner v. Switzer 562 U.S. 521 (2011)

postconviction access to DNA testing  • Section 1983  • Rooker–Feldman doctrine Roberts, Scalia, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan
Thomas
410



Weise v. Casper • [full text] 562 U.S. 976 (2010)

First Amendment  • free speech  • qualified immunity Sotomayor
Ginsburg filed a dissent from the Court's denial of certiorari. The plaintiffs had been ejected by volunteers, acting at the behest of the government, from a public speech by President George W. Bush because of an anti-war bumper sticker on the plaintiffs' car. The lower court ruled that the volunteers were entitled to qualified immunity because "no specific [judicial] authority" had given instructions on how to address the specific issue. Ginsburg wrote that the ejection was unreasonable and no "specific authority" should have been needed despite the novel facts of the case, because the Court's jurisprudence was quite clear that a benefit (access to the speech) could not be withheld on the basis of protected speech (the political bumper sticker). Ginsburg thought the volunteer status of the respondents in this appeal may have had some bearing on the Court's decision not to review the case, because the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 may have shielded them from suit (although that was not the basis of the lower court's ruling). The lawsuit remained pending below against the government officials responsible for the plaintiffs' removal.

Further reading

  • Liptak, Adam (October 12, 2010), "Justices Turn Down Appeal Over Speech Ejections", The New York Times, retrieved October 12, 2010.
411



Connick v. Thompson 563 U.S. 51 (2011)

single violation as basis for Section 1983 claim  • failure to make Brady disclosure  • failure to train prosecutors Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan
Thomas
Scalia
112



Astra USA, Inc. v. Santa Clara County 563 U.S. 110 (2011)

Public Health Service Act  • price ceilings on pharmaceuticals sold to certain health care providers  • provider cause of action for violation Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor
413



United States v. Tohono O'odham Nation 563 U.S. 307 (2011)

Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction  • separate suits based on same operative facts
Kennedy
Sotomayor
414



Schindler Elevator Corp. v. United States ex rel. Kirk 563 U.S. 401 (2011)

False Claims Act  • bar on qui tam suits based on public disclosures  • Freedom of Information Act responses Breyer, Sotomayor
Thomas
415



Kentucky v. King 563 U.S. 452 (2011)

Fourth Amendment  • exigent circumstances  • police-created exigency
Alito
216



Ashcroft v. al-Kidd 563 U.S. 731 (2011)

material witness arrest of terrorism suspects  • pretextual motivation  • Fourth Amendment  • qualified immunity Breyer, Sotomayor
Scalia
Kennedy
Sotomayor
217



United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation 564 U.S. 162 (2011)

fiduciary exception to attorney–client privilege  • general trust relationship between the United States and Indian tribes Breyer
Alito
Sotomayor
218



Bond v. United States 564 U.S. 211 (2011)

Article III  • standing  • Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1998  • Tenth Amendment Breyer
Kennedy
319



Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes 564 U.S. 338 (2011)

Title VII  • class certification Breyer, Sotomayor Kagan
Scalia
120



American Elec. Power Co. v. Connecticut 564 U.S. 410 (2011)

Clean Air Act  • power plant carbon dioxide emissions standards  • federal common law nuisance claims Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Breyer, Kagan
Alito
121



Bullcoming v. New Mexico 564 U.S. 647 (2011)

Sixth Amendment  • Confrontation Clause  • forensic laboratory report as testimony Scalia; Thomas, Sotomayor, Kagan (in part)
Sotomayor
Kennedy
122



CSX Transp., Inc. v. McBride 564 U.S. 685 (2011)

Federal Employers' Liability Act  • railroad causation of employee injury Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan; Thomas (in part)
Roberts
423



J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro 564 U.S. 873 (2011)

Fourteenth Amendment  • Due Process Clause  • personal jurisdiction over foreign manufacturer in state product liability suit  • purposeful availment of the forum Sotomayor, Kagan
Kennedy
Breyer
124



Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S. A. v. Brown 564 U.S. 915 (2011)

Fourteenth Amendment  • Due Process Clause  • personal jurisdiction  • foreign corporation sued in domestic court Unanimous

References