Question: Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 556 U.S. 163 (2009), was a United States Supreme Court case about the former crown lands of the Hawaiian monarchy, the Court, in an opinion by which Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and has served on the court since January 31, 2006?

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Abuelhawa v. United States: Abuelhawa v. United States, 556 U.S. 816 (2009) , was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a defendant who used a cellphone for the misdemeanor purchase of cocaine could not be charged with a felony for using a "communication facility" to facilitate the distribution of an illegal drug under .  In a unanimous opinion delivered by Justice Souter, the Court reasoned that the Government's interpretation of "facilitate" exposed a first-time buyer using a phone "to punishment 12 times more severe than a purchase by a recidivist offender and 8 times more severe than the unauthorized possession of a drug used by rapists," and was clearly not in line with Congress's intent, since it conflicted with the classification of the drug sale itself as a misdemeanor.

Neil Gorsuch Supreme Court nomination: After his nomination on January 31, 2017, Neil Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate on April 7, 2017.  Gorsuch, age 49, is the youngest sitting Supreme Court justice since Clarence Thomas.  In February 2016, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died, leaving a vacancy on the highest federal court in the United States.  Article II of the U.S. Constitution requires the president to nominate justices to the Supreme Court, subject to the "advice and consent" of the United States Senate.  President Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy.  U.S. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, arguing that the presidential election cycle having already commenced made the appointment of the next justice a political issue to be decided by voters, refused to bring the Garland nomination to the Senate floor for a vote.  McConnell's action held the Supreme Court vacancy open through the end of President Obama's tenure.

Mugler v. Kansas: Mugler v. Kansas, 123 U.S. 623 (1887) , was an important United States Supreme Court case in which the 8–1 opinion of Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan and the lone partial dissent by Associate Justice Stephen Johnson Field laid the foundation for the Supreme Court's later acceptance and defense during the Lochner era of Justice Field's theory of economic substantive due process under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Rodríguez v. Popular Democratic Party: Rodríguez v. Popular Democratic Party, 457 U.S. 1 (1982) , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States heard on appeal from the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico whether Puerto Rico may by statute vest in a political party the power to fill an interim vacancy in the Puerto Rico Legislature.  The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico held that such a procedure did not violate the United States Constitution, and the US Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.  The case was of some interest to close followers of the Court as it featured the one and only return of former associate justice, Abe Fortas, now in private practice, at oral argument on behalf of the appellee.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. ( ; March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932, and as Acting Chief Justice of the United States from January–February 1930.  Noted for his long service, his concise and pithy opinions and his deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history, particularly for his "clear and present danger" opinion for a unanimous Court in the 1919 case of "Schenck v. United States", and is one of the most influential American common law judges, honored during his lifetime in Great Britain as well as the United States.  Holmes retired from the Court at the age of 90 years, making him the oldest Justice in the Supreme Court's history.  He also served as an Associate Justice and as Chief Justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and was Weld Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School, of which he was an alumnus.

Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands: The Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands is the highest court in the territory of the United States Virgin Islands.  The Supreme Court assumed jurisdiction over all appeals from the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, a trial level court, on January 29, 2007.  There are three Supreme Court justices who are each appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Legislature for a ten-year term.  Appointments are for life.  The Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices.  There is no intermediate court of appeals, and the Supreme Court does not have discretion in hearing appeals.  Appeals of Supreme Court decisions were heard by writ of certiorari by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit until December 29, 2012, but since then they have been heard by the United States Supreme Court.

Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs: Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 556 U.S. 163 (2009), was a United States Supreme Court case about the former crown lands of the Hawaiian monarchy, and whether the state's right to sell them was restricted by the 1993 Apology Resolution.  The Court, in an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, ruled unanimously that the state had the power to sell the lands free of encumbrances.

Frank I. Osborne: Francis "Frank" Irwin Osborne (1853–1920) was the Attorney General of North Carolina from 1893 to 1896.  Osborne was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and attended the University of Virginia before reading law for 2 years in the offices of Richmond Mumford Pearson, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.  Osborne was admitted to the North Carolina Bar in 1875.  At age 25, he was elected mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina and served in the office from 1879-1880.  He was elected Attorney General of North Carolina in 1893, but, defeated for reelection to the same office in 1896.  Osborne served a term as a state senator from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in the North Carolina General Assembly from 1898-1899.  He served on 9 standing Senate Committees.  After 1899, Osborne resumed his legal practice at the law firm of Osborne, Maxwell & Kearn.  Though, himself, a Democrat, in 1901 Osborne defended both North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice David M. Furches and North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Martin Douglas during their impeachment hearings.  Osborne was of the opinion that the Republican judges’ impeachments were unwarranted and an attempted political purge.  Osborne’s brilliant speech before the North Carolina General Assembly in closing defense of the justices caused both to be acquitted.  As reward for his successful defense of the justices, Theodore Roosevelt in the same year appointed Osborne an associate justice of the United States Court of Private Land Claims.

Samuel Alito: Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.  He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006.

Cone v. Bell: Cone v. Bell, 556 U.S. 449 (2009), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that a defendant was entitled to a hearing to determine whether prosecutors in his 1982 death penalty trial violated his right to due process by withholding exculpatory evidence.  The defendant, Gary Cone, filed a petition for postconviction relief from a 1982 death sentence in which he argued that prosecutors violated his rights to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment by withholding police reports and witness statements that potentially could have shown that his drug addiction affected his behavior.  In an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court held that Cone was entitled to a hearing to determine whether the prosecution's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence violated Cone's right to due process; the Court noted that "the quantity and the quality of the suppressed evidence lends support to Cone’s position at trial that he habitually used excessive amounts of drugs, that his addiction affected his behavior during his crime spree".  In 2016, Gary Cone died from natural causes while still sitting on Tennessee's death row.

Supporting paragraphs: Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs Samuel Alito
Answer: Samuel Anthony Alito Jr.