Supreme Court of the United States, 1980

The Court, in a per curiam opinion, granted the petition for certiorari and reversed the Tenth Circuit's order granting a writ of mandamus that restored the jury verdict. The majority held that a mandamus order cannot be used to review an interlocutory order granting a new trial because such orders are not…

The Supreme Court affirmed the en banc judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit holding that private parties who corruptly conspire with a state judge to procure an official judicial act act 'under color of' state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C.

The Court held that the prisoner's pro se complaint adequately stated a procedural due process claim based on his placement in segregation for two days before a disciplinary hearing, because the record did not establish an emergency or other security justification for postponing the hearing.

The Supreme Court overruled the 'automatic standing' rule of Jones, holding that defendants charged with crimes of possession may claim the benefits of the exclusionary rule only if their own Fourth Amendment rights have in fact been violated.

The Court held that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 authorizes actions alleging deprivation of rights secured by federal statutes, not only constitutional or equal-rights laws. Because the respondents' claim under the Social Security Act was properly brought under § 1983, § 1988 authorized an award of attorney's fees, including in a…

The Court held that the Witherspoon doctrine applies to Texas's bifurcated capital‑sentencing scheme and that the exclusion of jurors under Texas Penal Code §12.31(b) violated that doctrine, reversing the death sentence.

The Court held that admitting Anita Isaacs' preliminary-hearing testimony did not violate the Confrontation Clause because defense counsel had substantially cross-examined her and the testimony therefore bore adequate indicia of reliability.

The Court held that Alabama could not impose the death penalty when the jury was barred from considering a supported lesser included noncapital offense. The prohibition increased the risk that the jury would convict or acquit for reasons unrelated to whether the State proved every element of the capital offense beyond…

The Court held that the statute governing attempts and conspiracies to commit controlled-substance offenses does not authorize a special parole term when the target substantive offense carries such a term.

The Supreme Court held that § 6(b)(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act—which requires 30 days' notice to manufacturers, an opportunity to comment, and reasonable steps to assure accuracy and fairness before 'public disclosure' of information—governs the Commission's release of accident reports in response to Freedom…

The Supreme Court held that in a diversity action a state service-of-process requirement that is an integral part of the state statute of limitations—not Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 3—determines when the action is commenced for purposes of tolling that statute.

Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court, joined by all nine Justices. The Court held that a plaintiff bringing a §1983 action against a public official need not allege that the official acted in bad faith; the burden of pleading qualified immunity rests with the defendant, not the plaintiff.

The Court, in an opinion delivered by Justice Powell, held that a state trial judge has no duty to inquire into the propriety of multiple representation absent an objection and that a mere possibility of a conflict of interest is insufficient to establish ineffective assistance of counsel; an actual conflict that…

Justice Stewart wrote for the Court, holding that the officers' conversation did not amount to "interrogation" under Miranda and therefore vacated and remanded the Rhode Island Supreme Court's judgment. Justice White filed a brief concurrence, and Chief Justice Burger concurred in the judgment.

The Supreme Court affirmed the three‑judge district court’s summary‑judgment granting summary judgment to the United States, holding that Rome’s 1966 electoral changes and thirteen annexations have a discriminatory effect and that the city failed to meet its burden of proof.

The Court, in an opinion authored by Chief Justice Burger, held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in certifying a final judgment under Rule 54(b) despite the presence of counterclaims, and therefore vacated the Third Circuit's judgment and remanded the case.

The Court upheld the Voting Rights Act's application to Rome, ruling that a municipality within a covered State cannot independently bail out of the Act's preclearance requirements.

The Supreme Court affirmed the D.C. Circuit's judgment upholding Winfield Roberts' consecutive sentences for telephone-misuse counts, holding that the sentencing court properly weighed his unexplained three-year refusal to cooperate with the heroin-conspiracy investigation as a factor bearing on his rehabilitation…

The Court held that the Fourth Amendment prohibits police from making a warrantless, nonconsensual entry into a suspect's home to make a routine felony arrest when no exigent circumstances exist.

The Court held that Nebraska's involuntary transfer of a prisoner to a state mental hospital for treatment of a mental disease or defect implicates liberty interests protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment — both a state-created expectancy rooted in Neb. Rev. Stat.

The Supreme Court held that an action brought on behalf of a class does not become moot upon expiration of the named plaintiff's substantive claim, even though class certification has been denied, because the proposed representative retains a 'personal stake' in obtaining class certification sufficient to satisfy…

The Supreme Court reversed Vincent Chiarella’s criminal conviction under §10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, holding that mere possession of material nonpublic market information does not create a duty to disclose absent a fiduciary or trust relationship.

The Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Blackmun, affirms the Fourth Circuit and holds that a defendant's outstanding prior felony conviction, even though constitutionally flawed because he was without counsel under Gideon, may serve as the predicate for a felon-in-possession conviction under 18 U.S.C. App. Sec.

The Court held that Snepp breached his CIA employment and secrecy agreements by publishing a book about Agency activities without submitting it for prepublication review, even though the Government did not contend that the book contained classified information.

The Court held that Minnesota could not constitutionally assert quasi in rem jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant by garnishing the insurer’s obligation, because the defendant lacked the requisite minimum contacts with the forum. The judgment of the Minnesota Supreme Court was reversed.

The Supreme Court held that Oklahoma could not exercise in personam jurisdiction over World‑Wide Volkswagen Corp. and Seaway Volkswagen, Inc. because the defendants lacked the minimum contacts with the state required by the Due Process Clause.

The Supreme Court held that a search warrant supported by probable cause to search the Aurora Tap Tavern and its bartender 'Greg' gave the executing officers no authority to search customers found on the premises, because probable cause to search a person must be particularized to that individual and mere presence…