2008 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down nine per curiam opinions during its 2008 term, which began on October 6, 2008 and concluded October 4, 2009.^[1]

Because per curiam decisions are issued from the Court as an institution, these opinions all lack the attribution of authorship or joining votes to specific justices. All justices on the Court at the time the decision was handed down are assumed to have participated and concurred unless otherwise noted.

Court membership

Chief Justice: John Roberts

Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito

Moore v. United States

Full caption:	James Eric Moore v. United States
Citations:	555 U.S. 1;
Prior history:	Defendant convicted, sentenced, N.D. Ia.; aff'd, 470 F. 3d 767 (8th Cir. 2006); vacated and remanded, 552 U.S. 1090 (2008); aff'd, 518 F. 3d 577 (2008)
Laws applied:	18 U.S.C. § 3553
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 1
Decided Decided October 14, 2008.
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded

Brunner v. Ohio Republican Party

Full caption:	Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State v. Ohio Republican Party et al.
Citations:	555 U.S. 5;
Prior history:	TRO granted, S.D. Oh., Oct. 9, 2008; motion to vacate denied, 6th Cir.
Laws applied:	42 U.S.C. § 15483(a)(5)(B)(i) (Help America Vote Act of 2002 §303)
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 5
Decided October 14, 2008.
The Court granted the application for a stay, and vacated the temporary restraining order entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Hedgpeth v. Pulido

Full caption:	Anthony Hedgpeth, Warden, v. Michael Robert Pulido
Citations:	555 U.S. 57;
Prior history:	Defendant's conviction upheld, sub. nom., People v. Pulido, 936 P.2d 1235 (Cal. 1997); petition granted, sub nom., Pulido v. Lamarque, No. 99–4933, (N.D. Cal. Mar. 24, 2005); aff'd, sub nom., Pulido v. Chrones, 487 F.3d 669 (9th Cir. 2007), cert. granted, 552 U.S. 1230 (2008)
Laws applied:	U.S. Const. amend. XIV
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 57
Decided December 2, 2008.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded.

Justice Stevens filed a dissent, joined by Justices Souter and Ginsburg.

Spears v. United States

Full caption:	Steven Spears v. United States
Citations:	555 U.S. 261;
Prior history:	Defendant convicted, sentenced; sentencing reversed, remanded, 469 F.3d 1166 (8th Circuit 2006); vacated, remanded, 552 U.S. 1090 (2008); reversed, remanded, 533 F.3d 715 (8th Cir. 2008)
Laws applied:	18 U.S.C. § 3553
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 261
Decided January 21, 2009.
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.

Kennedy would have submitted the case for oral argument. Thomas dissented without opinion. Roberts filed a dissent, joined by Alito.

Nelson v. United States

Full caption:	Lawrence W. Nelson, aka Zikee v. United States
Citations:	555 U.S. 350;
Prior history:	Conviction and sentencing affirmed, 237 Fed. Appx. 819 (4th Cir. 2007); vacated, remanded, 552 U.S. 1163 (2008); sentence affirmed, 276 Fed. Appx. 331 (4th Cir. 2008)
Laws applied:	18 U.S.C. § 3553
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 350
Decided January 26, 2009.
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.

Breyer filed a concurrence, which Alito joined.

CSX Transp., Inc. v. Hensley

Full caption:	CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Thurston Hensley
Citations:	556 U.S. 838;
Prior history:	Judgment for plaintiff; aff'd, 278 S.W. 3d 282 (Tenn. 2008)
Laws applied:	45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. (Federal Employers' Liability Act)
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

556 U.S. 838
Decided June 1, 2009.
Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed and remanded.

Stevens and Ginsburg filed dissents.

Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler LLC

Full caption:	Indiana State Police Pension Trust, et al. v. Chrysler LLC, et al.
Citations:	556 U.S. 960;
Prior history:	Restructuring plan approved, Bankr. S.D.N.Y., May 31, 2009; aff'd, 2d Cir., June 5, 2009; temporary stay granted, June 8, 2009 (Ginsburg, J.)
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion

556 U.S. 960
Decided June 9, 2009.
Application for stay denied.

Notes

1. The description of two decisions have been omitted. In Bell v. Kelly, 555 U.S. 55 (2008), and Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Williams, 556 U.S. 178 (2009), the Court dismissed certiorari as improvidently granted.

References

• 2008 term opinions of the Supreme Court, accessed March 25, 2010.