# 2009 term United States Supreme Court opinions of John Paul Stevens

* The 2009 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 5, 2009, and concluded October 3, 2010. This was the thirty-fifth and final term of Associate Justice John Paul Stevens's tenure on the Court; Stevens retired on June 29, 2010.
* John Paul Stevens 2009 term statistics
* 6
* Majority or Plurality
* 13
* Concurrence
* 3
* Other
* 13
* Dissent
* 2
* Concurrence/dissent
* Total =
* 37
* Bench opinions = 33
* Opinions relating to orders = 4
* In-chambers opinions = 0
* Unanimous opinions: 1
* Most joined by: Ginsburg, Sotomayor (8)
* Least joined by: Scalia, Thomas (4)
| Type | Case | Citation | Issues | Joined by | Other opinions |
| 201 | Wong v. Belmontes | 558 U.S. 15 (2009) | Sixth Amendment • ineffective assistance of counsel • death penalty • jury instructions | | per curiam |
| Stevens filed an opinion concurring in the Supreme Court's judgment that a convicted murderer on death row had failed to show that his attorney's failure to present more mitigating evidence affected the outcome of his sentencing. Stevens, however, criticized the Supreme Court's prior decision in the same case, from which he had dissented, and stated that he strongly disagreed with the decision to review the case again. The jury had been erroneously instructed that they could not give mitigating weight to any factors that did not reduce his culpability for the crime, which lead it to disregard evidence of the defendant's religious conversion and contributions to a youth rehabilitation program that could have "afford[ed] the jury a principled basis for imposing a sentence other than death." Stevens noted that "the conscientious jurors' mistaken understanding of the law would have prevented them from giving that additional evidence 'any weight at all,' let alone controlling weight." ||||||
| 402 | Michigan v. Fisher | 558 U.S. 45 (2009) | Fourth Amendment • emergency aid exception | Sotomayor | per curiam |
| 303 | Alvarez v. Smith | 558 U.S. 87 (2009) | Case or Controversy Clause • mootness | | Breyer |
| 204 | Smith v. Spisak | 558 U.S. 139 (2010) | Eighth Amendment • death penalty • jury instructions on mitigation • Sixth Amendment • ineffective assistance of counsel | | Breyer |
| 405 | NRG Power Marketing, LLC v. Maine Pub. Util. Comm'n | 558 U.S. 165 (2010) | Federal Power Act • presumption of reasonable electricity rates under wholesale energy contracts | | Ginsburg |
| 406 | Wood v. Allen | 558 U.S. 290 (2010) | habeas corpus • Sixth Amendment • ineffective assistance of counsel | Kennedy | Sotomayor |
| 307 | Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n | 558 U.S. 310 (2010) | campaign finance reform • Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 • First Amendment • free speech • corporate speech | Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor | Kennedy Roberts Scalia Thomas |
| 508 | United States v. Seale | 558 U.S. 985 (2009) | federal kidnapping offense • statute of limitations | Scalia | |
| Stevens filed a statement respecting the Court's dismissal of a certified question, regarding which statute of limitations applied to the federal crime of kidnapping, 18 U.S.C. § 1201. The question arose in the federal prosecution, begun in 2007, of KKK member James Ford Seale for his role in the 1964 murders of two black teens. There was no statute of limitations for capital crimes, but if the crime was not capital in nature the limitations period would be five years and have since expired. Section 1201 was punishable by death at the time of the crime and at the time of the prosecution, but not for more than two decades in between due to a repeal of the relevant death penalty provision in 1972. The District Court in Seale's prosecution ruled that the repeal did not retroactively change the character of the crime, which a panel of the Fifth Circuit then reversed. The Fifth Circuit vacated that decision for an en banc review, but then evenly divided and so the District Court's ruling was reinstated. A majority of the Fifth Circuit then voted to certify the question to the Supreme Court. Stevens believed the certified issue was "a pure question of law that may well determine the outcome of a number of cases of ugly racial violence remaining from the 1960s." Though the question was interlocutory, due to Seale's appeal on other grounds, Stevens saw no reason to delay the resolution of that question, which Stevens viewed as "narrow, debatable, and important." Stevens further noted that the Court had not accepted a certified question since 1981, but that the certification process remains law because it "serves a valuable, if limited, function." ||||||
| 509 | Muhammad v. Kelly | 558 U.S. 1019 (2009) | death penalty • staying executions | Ginsburg, Sotomayor | |
| Stevens filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of a stay of execution, and denial of the petition for certiorari. ||||||
| 510 | Johnson v. Bredesen | 558 U.S. 1067 (2009) | Eighth Amendment • death penalty | Breyer | Thomas |
| Stevens filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of certiorari and a stay of execution. ||||||
| 411 | Florida v. Powell | 559 U.S. 50 (2010) | Fifth Amendment • Miranda warning • adequate and independent state ground doctrine | Breyer (in part) | Ginsburg |
| 212 | Maryland v. Shatzer | 559 U.S. 98 (2010) | Fifth Amendment • Miranda rights • release to general prison population as break in custody | | Scalia Thomas |
| 113 | Graham County Soil and Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson | 559 U.S. 280 (2010) | False Claims Act • bar on qui tam suits based on publicly disclosed allegations | Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, Alito; Scalia (in part) | Scalia Sotomayor |
| 114 | Padilla v. Kentucky | 559 U.S. 356 (2010) | Sixth Amendment • ineffective assistance of counsel • legal advice on deportation as consequence of conviction | Kennedy, Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor | Alito Scalia |
| 215 | Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates, P. A. v. Allstate Ins. Co. | 559 U.S. 393 (2010) | class actions • state rule conflict with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure • Rules Enabling Act | | Scalia Ginsburg |
| 216 | Merck & Co. v. Reynolds | 559 U.S. 633 (2010) | Securities Exchange Act of 1934 • securities fraud • statute of limitations • discovery rule and scienter | | Breyer Scalia |
| 417 | Salazar v. Buono | 559 U.S. 700 (2010) | Article III • standing • First Amendment • Establishment Clause • display of religious symbol on government land • land transfer from government to private owner | Ginsburg, Sotomayor | Kennedy Roberts Scalia Alito Breyer |
| 418 | Renico v. Lett | 559 U.S. 766 (2010) | Fifth Amendment • Double Jeopardy Clause • retrial after mistrial | Sotomayor; Breyer (in part) | Roberts |
| 419 | Florida v. Rigterink | 559 U.S. 965 (2010) | adequate and independent state ground doctrine | | |
| Stevens dissented from the Court's summary granting of certiorari, vacatur of decision by the Florida Supreme Court, and remand. Stevens believed the lower court's decision rested upon an adequate and independent state ground, leaving the Court without jurisdiction to vacate the judgment. ||||||
| 420 | Abbott v. Abbott | 560 U.S. 1 (2010) | Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction • International Child Abduction Remedies Act • ne exeat right as right of custody | Thomas, Breyer | Kennedy |
| 221 | Graham v. Florida | 560 U.S. 48 (2010) | Eighth Amendment • cruel and unusual punishment • sentencing of juveniles to life imprisonment for nonhomicide crimes | Ginsburg, Sotomayor | Kennedy Roberts Thomas Alito |
| 122 | American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League | 560 U.S. 183 (2010) | antitrust law • National Football League team intellectual property licensing • concerted action • Rule of Reason | Unanimous | |
| 223 | United States v. O'Brien | 560 U.S. 218 (2010) | use of machine gun in federal crime as element or sentencing factor | | Kennedy Thomas |
| 224 | Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co. | 560 U.S. 242 (2010) | Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 • award of attorney's fees | | Thomas |
| 425 | United States v. Marcus | 560 U.S. 258 (2010) | plain error standard of review • Ex Post Facto Clause • Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 | | Breyer |
| 126 | Samantar v. Yousuf | 560 U.S. 305 (2010) | Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act • immunity for officials of foreign states | Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor | Scalia Thomas Alito |
| 127 | Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder | 560 U.S. 563 (2010) | Immigration and Nationality Act • discretionary cancellation of removal proceedings • drug possession as aggravated felony | Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor | Scalia Thomas |
| 128 | New Process Steel, L. P. v. NLRB | 560 U.S. 674 (2010) | Taft-Hartley Act • National Labor Relations Board • delegation of powers to groups of members | Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito | Kennedy |
| 229 | Ontario v. Quon | 560 U.S. 746 (2010) | Fourth Amendment • government review of employee text messages | | Kennedy Scalia |
| 430 | Dillon v. United States | 560 U.S. 817 (2010) | United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines • sentence reduction • possession of crack cocaine | | Sotomayor |
| 431 | Rent-A-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson | 561 U.S. 63 (2010) | Federal Arbitration Act • challenge to enforceability of arbitration agreement | Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor | Scalia |
| 432 | Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms | 561 U.S. 139 (2010) | Plant Protection Act • deregulation of genetically modified plants • Article III • standing | | Alito |
| 233 | Doe v. Reed | 561 U.S. 186 (2010) | public disclosure of referendum petitions • First Amendment • free speech | Breyer | Roberts Scalia Breyer Alito Sotomayor Thomas |
| 234 | Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. | 561 U.S. 247 (2010) | Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 • SEC Rule 10b-5 • extraterritorial application | Ginsburg | Scalia Breyer |
| 235 | Bilski v. Kappos | 561 U.S. 593 (2010) | patent law • patentability of business method | Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor | Kennedy Breyer |
| 236 | Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez | 561 U.S. 661 (2010) | nondiscrimination policy for university student organizations • First Amendment • free speech • public forum doctrine | | Ginsburg Kennedy Alito |
| 437 | McDonald v. Chicago | 561 U.S. 742 (2010) | Second Amendment • Fourteenth Amendment • Incorporation Doctrine • gun control | | Alito Scalia Thomas Breyer |