Supreme Court cases, October term 2018-2019

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SCOTUS
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Cases by term
Judgeships
Posts: 9
Judges: 9
Judges
Chief: John Roberts
Active: Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Stephen Breyer, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, David Souter, Clarence Thomas


The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the country and leads the judicial branch of the federal government. It is often referred to by the acronym SCOTUS.[1]

"Beyond the Headlines: The Supreme Court's 2018-2019 Term"

SCOTUS began hearing cases for the 2018-2019 term on October 1, 2018. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.[2]

The court issued decisions in 68 of the 69 cases it heard argued this term. The court scheduled Carpenter v. Murphy for reargument in its October 2019-2020 term. Four additional cases were decided without argument. Between 2007 and 2018, SCOTUS released opinions in 850 cases, averaging 77 cases per year.

See the sections below for additional information on the October 2018 term of the Supreme Court of the United States.

  1. Cases by circuit: This section lists the cases being heard by the Supreme Court of the United States by court of origination (e.g., federal appellate courts, federal district courts, state courts, etc.).
  2. Cases by sitting: This section lists the cases being heard by the Supreme Court of the United States by date of oral argument.
  3. Cases by date of opinion: This section lists the cases by the date the court released an opinion.
  4. Noteworthy court announcements: This section provides details on noteworthy court announcements and emergency appeals.
  5. Term data: This section provides summary information on the cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, including case names, decisions, vote totals, opinion authors, and courts of origination. It also includes information on SCOTUS case reversal rates.

Cases by circuit

Article III, Section 2 of the United States Constitution establishes the court's jurisdiction. The court has original jurisdiction—when it is the first and only to hear a case—and appellate jurisdiction—when it reviews the decisions of lower courts.[3]

Parties petition SCOTUS to hear a case if they are not satisfied with a lower court's decision. The parties petition the court to grant a writ of certiorari. A writ of certiorari is an "order issued by the U.S. Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case it will hear on appeal."[3][4]

Select a region to learn more about the lower courts of appeal.

United States Court of Appeals for the 1st CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 2nd CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 3rd CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 4th CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 6th CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 10th CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 1st CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 3rd CircuitUS Court of Appeals and District Court map.jpg

Where are the cases coming from?

List of argued cases by court of origination - 2018-2019 term
Court Number of cases
United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit 2
United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit 5
United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit 3
United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit 4
United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit 3
United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit 5
United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit 0
United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit 4
United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit 12
United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit 3
United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit 7
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 3
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 4
State and district courts 14
Total 69
Source: Supreme Court, "Granted and Noted List October Term 2018 Cases for Argument," accessed February 18, 2019

Circuits

1st Circuit

2nd Circuit

3rd Circuit

4th Circuit

5th Circuit

6th Circuit

7th Circuit

  • Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky Inc. (Decided without argument)

8th Circuit

9th Circuit

10th Circuit

11th Circuit

D.C. Circuit

Federal Circuit

State and district courts

Cases by sitting

SCOTUS' term is divided into sittings, when the justices hear cases.[5]

Sitting

October sitting

October 1, 2018

October 2, 2018

October 3, 2018

October 9, 2018

October 10, 2018

October 29, 2018

October 30, 2018

October 31, 2018

November sitting

November 5, 2018

November 6, 2018

November 7, 2018

December sitting

November 26, 2018

November 27, 2018

November 28, 2018

December 3, 2018

December 4, 2018

December 6, 2018

January sitting

January 7, 2019

January 8, 2019

January 9, 2019

January 14, 2019

January 15, 2019

January 16, 2019

February sitting

February 19, 2019

February 20, 2019

February 25, 2019

February 26, 2019

February 27, 2019

March sitting

March 18, 2019

March 19, 2019

March 20, 2019

March 25, 2019

March 26, 2019

March 27, 2019

April sitting

April 15, 2019

April 16, 2019

April 17, 2019

April 22, 2019

April 23, 2019

April 24, 2019

Cases removed from argument calendar

  • Department of Commerce v. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • Gray v. Wilkie

Cases scheduled for next term

See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2019-2020

The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the October 2019-2020 term on October 7, 2019. Click here for more information on the cases scheduled for that term.

Cases by date of opinion

October

  • The court did not deliver opinions in October.

November

November 6, 2018

November 27, 2018

December

December 10, 2018

January

January 8, 2019

January 15, 2019

January 22, 2019

February

February 20, 2019

February 26, 2019

February 27, 2019

March

March 4, 2019

March 19, 2019

March 20, 2019

March 26, 2019

March 27, 2019

April

April 1, 2019

April 24, 2019

April 29, 2019

May

May 13, 2019

May 20, 2019

May 28, 2019

June

June 3, 2019

June 10, 2019

June 17, 2019

June 20, 2019

June 21, 2019

June 24, 2019

June 26, 2019

June 27, 2019

Noteworthy court announcements

The following section lists noteworthy announcements or decisions issued by the court outside of its scheduled case sittings.

Case dismissed as improvidently granted

See also: Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian

April 23, 2019
Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian was argued before the court on April 15, 2019. The case concerned Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.[6]

In a per curiam decision on April 23, 2019, the court dismissed the writ as improvidently granted.[7] Dismissed as improvidently granted, or DIG, occurs when the court chooses not to decide a case, even after accepting the appeal or hearing the arguments.[8] Click here for more information.

Opinion issued out of private conference

May 28, 2019
On May 28, 2019, SCOTUS issued orders from a private conference in the case of Box v. Planned Parenthood on petition from the state of Indiana. On March 24, 2016, then-Gov. Mike Pence (R) signed House Enrolled Act No. 1337 (HEA 1337). The law created new provisions, including one requiring fetal remains be buried or cremated and another prohibiting abortions based on disability, sex, or race of the fetus.[9][10]

In Box v. Planned Parenthood, a federal district court in Indiana declared HEA 1337 unconstitutional and blocked the law's enforcement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit agreed.[10]

Acting on the petition from Indiana, SCOTUS issued a per curiam opinion reversing the 7th Circuit's ruling on the provision requiring burial or cremation of fetal remains. "This Court has already acknowledged that a State has a 'legitimate interest in proper disposal of fetal remains.' ... The Seventh Circuit clearly erred in failing to recognize that interest as a permissible basis for Indiana's disposition law." The court did not issue an opinion on the second provision.[10][11]

Term data

List of cases

The 2018-2019 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began on October 1, 2018. The following table provides data on the decisions the court delivered during the 2018-2019 term.

2018-2019 SCOTUS term data
Case Opinion author Decision Vote Court of origination
Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service John Roberts Vacated and remanded 8-0 5th Circuit
Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido Ruth Bader Ginsburg Affirmed 8-0 9th Circuit
Madison v. Alabama Elena Kagan Vacated and remanded 5-3 Alabama 13th Circuit Court
New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira Neil Gorsuch Affirmed 8-0 1st Circuit
United States v. Stitt Stephen Breyer Reversed and remanded 9-0 6th Circuit
Stokeling v. United States Clarence Thomas Affirmed 5-4 11th Circuit
Nielsen v. Preap Samuel Alito Reversed and remanded 5-4 9th Circuit
Air and Liquid Systems Corp. v. Devries Brett Kavanaugh Affirmed 6-3 3rd Circuit
Lamps Plus Inc. v. Varela John Roberts Reversed and remanded 5-4 9th Circuit
Henry Schein Inc. v. Archer and White Sales Inc. (2018) Brett Kavanaugh Vacated and remanded 9-0 5th Circuit
Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den Inc. Stephen Breyer Affirmed 5-4 Washington State Supreme Court
Garza v. Idaho Sonia Sotomayor Reversed and remanded 6-3 Idaho Supreme Court
Frank v. Gaos N/A Vacated and remanded Per curiam 9th Circuit
Jam v. Int'l Finance Corp. John Roberts Reversed and remanded 7-1 D.C. Circuit
Sturgeon v. Frost Elena Kagan Reversed and remanded 9-0 9th Circuit
BNSF Railway Company v. Loos Ruth Bader Ginsburg Reversed and remanded 7-2 8th Circuit
Bucklew v. Precythe Neil Gorsuch Affirmed 5-4 8th Circuit
Republic of Sudan v. Harrison Samuel Alito Reversed and remanded 8-1 2nd Circuit
Culbertson v. Berryhill Clarence Thomas Reversed and remanded 9-0 11th Circuit
Apple v. Pepper Brett Kavanaugh Affirmed 5-4 9th Circuit
Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert Sonia Sotomayor Reversed and remanded 9-0 9th Circuit
Timbs v. Indiana Ruth Bader Ginsburg Vacated and remanded 9-0 Indiana Supreme Court
Lorenzo v. Securities and Exchange Commission Stephen Breyer Affirmed 5-2 D.C. Circuit
Dawson v. Steager Neil Gorsuch Reversed and remanded 9-0 West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
Biestek v. Berryhill Elena Kagan Affirmed 6-3 6th Circuit
Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. Clarence Thomas Affirmed 9-0 Federal Circuit
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht Stephen Breyer Vacated and remanded 9-0 3rd Circuit
Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP Stephen Breyer Affirmed 9-0 10th Circuit
Herrera v. Wyoming Sonia Sotomayor Vacated and remanded 5-4 Wyoming Fourth Judicial District Court
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, et al. Ruth Bader Ginsburg Affirmed 9-0 11th Circuit
Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt Clarence Thomas Reversed and remanded 5-4 Nevada Supreme Court
Thacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority Elena Kagan Reversed and remanded 9-0 11th Circuit
Rimini Street Inc. v. Oracle USA Inc. Brett Kavanaugh Reversed in part and remanded 9-0 9th Circuit
Mission Product Holdings v. Tempnology LLC Elena Kagan Reversed and remanded 8-1 1st Circuit
Cochise Consultancy Inc. v. United States, ex rel. Hunt Clarence Thomas Affirmed 9-0 11th Circuit
Nieves v. Bartlett John Roberts Reversed and remanded 6-3 9th Circuit
Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. v. Jackson Clarence Thomas Affirmed 5-4 4th Circuit
Smith v. Berryhill Sonia Sotomayor Reversed and remanded 9-0 6th Circuit
Azar v. Allina Health Services Neil Gorsuch Affirmed 7-1 D.C. Circuit
Fort Bend County, Texas v. Davis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Affirmed 9-0 5th Circuit
Mont v. United States Clarence Thomas Affirmed 5-4 6th Circuit
Taggart v. Lorenzen Stephen Breyer Vacated and remanded 9-0 9th Circuit
Quarles v. United States Brett Kavanaugh Affirmed 9-0 6th Circuit
Return Mail v. U.S. Postal Service Sonia Sotomayor Reversed and remanded 6-3 Federal Circuit
Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton Clarence Thomas Vacated and remanded 9-0 9th Circuit
Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck Brett Kavanaugh Reversed in part and remanded 5-4 2nd Circuit
Virginia Uranium v. Warren Neil Gorsuch Affirmed 6-3 4th Circuit
Gamble v. U.S. Samuel Alito Affirmed 7-2 11th Circuit
Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill Ruth Bader Ginsburg Appeal dismissed 5-4 Eastern District of Virginia
Gundy v. United States Elena Kagan Affirmed 5-3 2nd Circuit
McDonough v. Smith Sonia Sotomayor Reversed and remanded 6-3 2nd Circuit
The American Legion v. American Humanist Association Samuel Alito Reversed and remanded 7-2 4th Circuit
PDR Network, LLC v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic Inc. Stephen Breyer Vacated and remanded 9-0 4th Circuit
Flowers v. Mississippi Brett Kavanaugh Reversed and remanded 7-2 Supreme Court of Mississippi
North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust Sonia Sotomayor Affirmed 9-0 North Carolina Supreme Court
Rehaif v. United States Stephen Breyer Reversed and remanded 7-2 11th Circuit
Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania John Roberts Vacated and remanded 5-4 3rd Circuit
United States v. Davis Neil Gorsuch Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded 5-4 5th Circuit
Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media Neil Gorsuch Reversed and remanded 6-3 8th Circuit
Iancu v. Brunetti Elena Kagan Affirmed 6-3 Federal Circuit
The Dutra Group v. Batterton Samuel Alito Reversed and remanded 6-3 9th Circuit
United States v. Haymond Neil Gorsuch Vacated and remanded 5-4 10th Circuit
Kisor v. Wilkie Elena Kagan Vacated and remanded 9-0 Federal Circuit
Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Byrd Samuel Alito Affirmed 7-2 6th Circuit
Mitchell v. Wisconsin Samuel Alito Vacated and remanded 5-4 Supreme Court of Wisconsin
Rucho v. Common Cause John Roberts Vacated and remanded 5-4 Middle District of North Carolina
Lamone v. Benisek John Roberts Vacated and remanded 5-4 District of Maryland
Department of Commerce v. New York John Roberts Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded 5-4 Southern District of New York

Justice alignment

The following justice alignment table shows justice agreement rates for non-unanimous rulings during the 2018-2019 term. The data does not include agreements in part.

5-4 decisions

In this term, the court issued 21 5-4 or 5-3 decisions. This term, those decisions were made by 10 different configurations of justices, the most of any term since 2005. It was also the first time in the Roberts Court that each conservative justice participated in at least one 5-4 decision by joining the court's liberal members in the majority. Across these decisions, less than 50 percent had a majority made up of all five conservative justices (Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh). The rest had a majority made up of the four liberal justices (Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan) and one conservative justice. In the 2017 term, all of the 5-4 votes went in the favor of the conservative justices.[12]

Active justices

See also: Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court consists of nine justices. The court began the 2018 term with eight sitting justices. It increased to nine after Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in on October 6, 2018, to replace the retired Anthony Kennedy.

JudgeBornHomeAppointed byActivePreceededLaw school
Alito.jpg
Associate justice 
Samuel Alito		April 1, 1950Trenton, N.J.W. Bush January 31, 2006 - PresentSandra Day O'ConnorYale Law School, 1975
Official roberts CJ.jpg
Chief justice 
John Roberts		January 27, 1955Buffalo, N.Y.W. Bush September 29, 2005 - PresentWilliam RehnquistHarvard Law, 1979
ClarenceThomas.jpg
Associate justice 
Clarence Thomas		June 23, 1948Savannah, Ga.H.W. Bush July 1, 1991 - PresentThurgood MarshallYale Law School, 1974
Stephen Breyer.jpg
Associate justice 
Stephen Breyer		August 15, 1938San Francisco, Calif.Clinton August 3, 1994 - PresentHarry BlackmunHarvard Law School, 1964
Ruth Bader Ginsburg.jpg
Associate justice 
Ruth Bader Ginsburg		March 15, 1933New York, N.Y.Clinton August 5, 1993 - PresentByron WhiteColumbia Law School, 1959
Elena Kagan.jpg
Associate justice 
Elena Kagan		April 28, 1960New York, N.Y.Obama August 7, 2010 - PresentJohn Paul StevensHarvard Law School, J.D., 1986
Sonia Sotomayor official.jpg
Associate justice 
Sonia Sotomayor		June 25, 1954New York, N.Y.Obama August 6, 2009 - PresentDavid SouterYale Law School, 1979
NeilGorsuch.gif
Associate justice 
Neil Gorsuch		August 29, 1967Denver, Colo.Trump April 10, 2017 - PresentAntonin ScaliaHarvard Law School, 1991
Judge Brett Kavanaugh2.jpg
Associate justice 
Brett Kavanaugh		February 12, 1965Washington, D.C.Trump October 6, 2018 - PresentAnthony KennedyYale Law School, 1990


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The New York Times, "On Language' Potus and Flotus," October 12, 1997
  2. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court," accessed April 20, 2015
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Administrative Office of the United States Courts, "Supreme Court Procedures," accessed May 23, 2019
  4. ↑ Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, "Understanding the Federal Courts," accessed May 23, 2019
  5. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "The Court and Its Procedures," accessed May 23, 2019
  6. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "18-459 Emulex Corporation, et al., Petitioners v. Gary Varjabedian, et al.," accessed March 7, 2019
  7. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, April 23, 2019
  8. ↑ Porter Wright, "Can you 'DIG' it? The dismissal of appeals as improvidently granted," accessed April 23, 2019
  9. ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, Box v. Planned Parenthood, April 19, 2018
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 SCOTUSblog, "Justices reverse in part on Indiana abortion law," May 28, 2019
  11. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Box v. Planned Parenthood, May 28, 2019
  12. ↑ Empirical SCOTUS, "Changes Are Afoot: Evidence from 5-4 Decisions During the 2018 Term and What this Tells Us About the Supreme Court Moving Forward," July 7, 2019
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