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2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Sonia Sotomayor

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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 second term of Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor's tenure on the Court.
Sonia Sotomayor 2010 term statistics
7
Majority or Plurality
8
Concurrence
1
Other
9
Dissent
0
Concurrence/dissent Total = 25
Bench opinions = 22 Opinions relating to orders = 3 In-chambers opinions = 0
Unanimous opinions: 2 Most joined by: Breyer (13) Least joined by: Thomas (3)
Type Case Citation Issues Joined by Other opinions
101



Chase Bank USA, N. A. v. McCoy 562 U.S. 195 (2011)

Truth in Lending Act  • Regulation Z  • credit card issuer change-in-terms notice requirements Unanimous
402



Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC 562 U.S. 223 (2011)

National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986  • state law design defect claims  • federal preemption Ginsburg
Scalia
Breyer
203



Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. 562 U.S. 323 (2011)

National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966  • Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards on seat belt design  • state law torts against auto manufacturers  • federal preemption
Breyer
Thomas
104



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

Sixth Amendment  • Confrontation Clause  • hearsay exception for statements to help police address ongoing emergency Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer, Alito
Thomas
Scalia
Ginsburg
105



Pepper v. United States 562 U.S. 476 (2011)

Federal Sentencing Guidelines  • consideration of postsentencing rehabilitation Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg; Breyer, Alito (in part)
Breyer
Alito
Thomas
406



Pitre v. Cain • [full text] 562 U.S. 992 (2010)

Eighth Amendment  • prison conditions  • right to refuse medical treatment
Sotomayor dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari. She believed that the lower courts erred in dismissing a prison inmate's complaint, which alleged that, as punishment for his refusal to take his HIV medication as a protest against his transfer to a prison facility, prison officials subjected him to hard labor in extreme heat that posed a serious risk to his health. Sotomayor argued that the inmate stated an Eighth Amendment claim for deliberate indifference, and that it was incorrect for the lower court to dismiss his complaint for his failure to submit evidence in support prior to a responsive pleading being submitted.
507



Gamache v. California • [full text] 562 U.S. 1083 (2010)

harmless error  • burden of proof Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan
Sotomayor filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of certiorari. Prior to rendering a guilty verdict and death sentence, a jury had been given access to a damaging video tape depicting the defendant that had not been admitted into evidence. The California Supreme Court, stating that the defendant had the burden of proving prejudice, determined that the introduction of the tape was harmless error. Sotomayor wrote to correct the court's error of law, noting that under Supreme Court precedent the burden is instead upon the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a constitutional trial error was harmless. She believed, however, that based on the evidence and the court's analysis, the outcome would have been the same in this case regardless of how the burden was allocated, and so did not disagree with the denial of certiorari.
408



Williams v. Hobbs • [full text] 562 U.S. 1097 (2010)

habeas corpus  • evidentiary hearings  • preservation of issues on appeal Ginsburg
Sotomayor dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari of a judgment reversing the granting of a habeas petition after an evidentiary hearing. The petitioner had been convicted of murder in state court and sentenced to death after his attorneys conceded his guilt at trial and failed to present any substantive mitigating evidence at sentencing. In District Court, he established that his counsel was ineffective and at the evidentiary hearing to establish prejudice, presented evidence of his childhood of abuse and neglect. In reversing the District Court's granting of the petition, the Eighth Circuit claimed that the State had preserved its objection to the evidentiary hearing, when in Sotomayor's view it not only made no clear objection but in fact, "voluntarily participate[d]...without objection, with an apparent intent of supplementing the record for its own purposes, and at a significant cost and expenditure of judicial resources." "Today", she wrote, "the Court refuses to review the Eighth Circuit's conclusion that a State may withhold an objection to a federal habeas evidentiary hearing until after the hearing is complete, the constitutional violation established, and habeas relief granted. Because I believe such a rule enables, and even invites, States to manipulate federal habeas proceedings to their own strategic advantage at an unacceptable cost to justice, I respectfully dissent."
109



Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano 563 U.S. 27 (2011)

Securities Exchange Act of 1934  • Rule 10b-5  • failure of pharmaceutical company to disclose evidence of drug side effect  • materiality Unanimous
410



Cullen v. Pinholster 563 U.S. 170 (2011)

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996  • introduction of new evidence in habeas corpus proceedings  • Sixth Amendment  • ineffective assistance of counsel Ginsburg, Kagan (in part)
Thomas
Alito
Breyer
411



Sossamon v. Texas 563 U.S. 277 (2011)

prisoners' rights  • Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act  • Spending Clause  • sovereign immunity Breyer
Thomas
212



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

Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction  • separate suits based on same operative facts Breyer
Kennedy
Ginsburg
413



Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting 563 U.S. 582 (2011)

Immigration Reform and Control Act  • Legal Arizona Workers Act  • state requirement that businesses use E-Verify  • suspension or revocation of business licenses for hiring unauthorized aliens  • federal preemption
Roberts
Breyer
214



Camreta v. Greene 563 U.S. 692 (2011)

Article III  • Case or Controversy Clause  • standing  • review of constitutional issue on appeal from defendant with qualified immunity  • mootness Breyer
Kagan
Scalia
Kennedy
215



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

material witness arrest of terrorism suspects  • pretextual motivation  • Fourth Amendment  • qualified immunity Ginsburg, Breyer
Scalia
Kennedy
Ginsburg
216



Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior Univ. v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. 563 U.S. 776 (2011)

patent law  • University and Small Business Patent Procedures Act of 1980  • vesting of federally funded patents in inventors or contractors
Roberts
Breyer
117



DePierre v. United States 564 U.S. 70 (2011)

Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986  • sentence enhancement for "cocaine base" Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Kagan; Scalia (in part)
Scalia
118



Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership 564 U.S. 91 (2011)

Patent Act of 1952  • presumption of patent validity  • on-sale bar  • clear and convincing evidence Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Kagan
Thomas
Breyer
419



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
Alito
Ginsburg
220



Davis v. United States 564 U.S. 229 (2011)

Fourth Amendment  • exclusionary rule  • good faith reliance on binding appellate precedent
Alito
Breyer
121



J. D. B. v. North Carolina 564 U.S. 261 (2011)

Fifth Amendment  • Miranda warning  • effect of minor's age on determining custodial status Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan
Alito
222



Tapia v. United States 564 U.S. 319 (2011)

extension of prison sentence to foster rehabilitation Alito
Kagan
223



Freeman v. United States 564 U.S. 522 (2011)

Sentencing Reform Act of 1984  • sentence reduction due to retroactive amendment of Sentencing Guidelines  • plea bargain under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11
Kennedy
Roberts
424



PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing 564 U.S. 604 (2011)

federal generic drug labeling requirements  • federal preemption Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan
Thomas
225



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

Sixth Amendment  • Confrontation Clause  • forensic laboratory report as testimony
Ginsburg
Kennedy

References

  • "2010 Term Opinions of the Court". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  • "2010 Term Opinions Relating to Orders". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  • "2010 Term In-Chambers Opinions". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 2, 2011.