Court Opinion

ID: 9431476
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:32:21.881169+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:28.681904
License: Public Domain

Justice Marshall,
dissenting.
I continue to believe that it is unfair to litigants and damaging to the integrity and accuracy of this Court’s decisions *5to reverse a decision summarily without the benefit of full briefing on the merits of the question decided. Buchanan v. Stanships, Inc., 485 U. S. 265, 269-270 (1988) (Marshall, J., dissenting); Commissioner v. McCoy, 484 U. S. 3, 7-8 (1987) (Marshall, J., dissenting); Montana v. Hall, 481 U. S. 400, 405-410 (1987) (Marshall, J., dissenting).
The Rules of this Court urge litigants filing petitions for certiorari to focus on the exceptional need for this Court’s review rather than on the merits of the underlying case. Summary disposition thus flies in the face of legitimate expectations of the parties seeking review by this Court and deprives them of the opportunity to argue the merits of their claim before judgment. Moreover, briefing on the merits leads to greater accuracy in our decisions and helps this Court to reduce as much as is humanly possible the inevitable incidence of error in our opinions. Finally, the practice of summary disposition demonstrates insufficient respect for lower court judges and for our own dissenting colleagues on this Court.
It is my view that when the Court is considering summary disposition of a case, it should, at the very least, so inform the litigants and invite them to submit supplemental briefs on the merits. I remain unconvinced that this slight modification of our practice would unduly burden the Court. The benefits of increasing the fairness and accuracy of our decisionmaking and the value of according greater respect to our colleagues on this and other courts more than outweigh any burden associated with such a modest accommodation.
I dissent.