Supreme Court of the United States, 1988

The Court held that factually based opinions and conclusions in public investigative reports are not excluded from Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8)(C) merely because they are opinions or conclusions, provided they satisfy the Rule's trustworthiness requirement.

The Court held per curiam that excluding cross-examination about the complainant's cohabitation with another prosecution witness violated Olden's confrontation right because the evidence supported his claim that she fabricated the assault to protect that relationship.

Justice Scalia's majority opinion held that the Labor Department's interim black lung regulation violated 30 U. S. C. § 902(f)(2) by requiring ten years of coal mine employment to invoke a presumption available under the earlier HEW regulation upon direct proof of mining-related pneumoconiosis.

The Court held that the term “criteria” in 30 U.S.C. §902(f)(2) includes all standards, not merely medical ones, so the Secretary of Labor’s interim regulation is impermissibly more restrictive and invalid.

The Court vacated the judgment and remanded with instructions to vacate Thompson's death sentence for a murder committed at age 15. Stevens, joined by Brennan, Marshall, and Blackmun, concluded that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments categorically prohibit execution for offenses committed before age 16, relying on…

The Court held that substantial-justification determinations under the Equal Access to Justice Act are reviewed for abuse of discretion and that the Government's position is substantially justified when it has a reasonable basis in law and fact.

Justice O'Connor's opinion held that Brookfield's residential-picketing ordinance survives a facial First Amendment challenge when construed to prohibit only focused picketing solely in front of a particular residence.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Brennan, held that a pro se prisoner's notice of appeal is filed when delivered to prison authorities for forwarding to the district court clerk. Houston's delivery within the 30-day appeal period therefore gave the Court of Appeals jurisdiction, and its dismissal was reversed.

The Supreme Court held that a court order compelling a grand‑jury target to execute a consent directive authorizing foreign banks to disclose his account records is not a testimonial act and therefore does not violate the Fifth Amendment privilege against self‑incrimination; the Fifth Circuit’s judgment was affirmed.

The Court held that the effective date for Title VII liability in pension‑benefit discrimination cases is the Norris decision (August 1, 1983), not Manhart, and that the district court’s benefit‑adjustment award is retroactive and therefore impermissible, so the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment was reversed.

Justice Stevens dissents, agreeing that retroactive relief for pre‑Manhart retirees is unavailable but arguing that post‑Manhart retirees should receive retroactive relief because each discriminatory benefit payment is a separate Title VII violation; he concurs with the lower courts on prospective relief and would…

Justice Blackmun concurs with the majority that retirees who left employment before the Manhart decision are not entitled to retroactive relief, but dissents from the majority’s categorical denial of retroactive relief to retirees who left after Manhart, arguing that Manhart gave clear notice that the pension plan…

The Court held that the decision invalidating sex-based pension contributions did not clearly establish that employer-operated pension benefits also had to be calculated without sex-based actuarial tables.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Marshall, held that 28 U. S. C. § 1404(a), rather than a contrary state policy, governs a federal diversity court's decision whether to transfer an action pursuant to a contractual forum-selection clause.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Blackmun, held that a physician under a part-time contract to provide medical services to state prisoners acts under color of state law when treating an inmate.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice White, affirmed the rejection of a facial challenge to New York City's law extending antidiscrimination requirements to certain large private clubs. The consortium had associational standing because its member clubs could sue on behalf of their individual members.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Stevens, affirmed the Fifth Circuit's judgment requiring a new trial. Section 455(a) does not require actual knowledge of disqualifying circumstances: an objectively reasonable appearance of partiality can establish a violation despite a judge's temporary lapse of memory.

Justice Brennan delivered the Court's opinion holding that the Federal Circuit lacked appellate jurisdiction because petitioners' antitrust claims did not necessarily depend on patent law: each could succeed on alternative, nonpatent theories.

Justice O'Connor's majority opinion held that the Hague Service Convention applies when the forum's internal law requires transmission of documents abroad as a necessary part of service.

Justice Marshall delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the Federal Tort Claims Act’s discretionary function exception protects only conduct involving a permissible exercise of policy judgment, not every act performed under a federal regulatory program.

Justice O’Connor delivered the Court’s opinion holding that Pennsylvania’s six-year limitations period for paternity actions violated equal protection because it was not substantially related to the State’s interest in preventing stale or fraudulent claims.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Stevens, upheld Wisconsin's requirement that appointed appellate counsel seeking to withdraw explain why the potential appellate issues lack merit.

Justice Stevens delivered the unanimous opinion holding that § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act does not preempt an Illinois retaliatory-discharge claim merely because a collective-bargaining agreement also provides a remedy for discharge without just cause.

Justice Marshall delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the Court of Appeals improperly rejected the District Court’s factual findings supporting cause to excuse Amadeo’s procedural default of his jury-discrimination claim.

Justice Stevens delivered the unanimous opinion reversing the preliminary injunction against the FDIC’s suspension of an indicted bank officer. The Court held that protecting depositors and public confidence, together with an indictment establishing probable cause, justified suspension without a prior hearing.

The Court held that a district court may reject a defendant’s waiver of conflict-free representation and deny substitution of chosen counsel when an actual conflict or a serious potential for conflict outweighs the presumption favoring counsel of choice.

Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the unanimous opinion affirming Huddleston’s conviction. The Court held that admission of other-act evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) does not require the trial judge to find by a preponderance of the evidence that the act occurred.

The Court vacated the Sixth Circuit's judgment and remanded. Blackmun's opinion adopted the TSC Industries materiality standard for § 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, rejected both an agreement-in-principle threshold and materiality arising merely from a false denial, and required a fact-specific assessment of a merger's…

The Court reversed and remanded the judgment sustaining municipal liability under § 1983. Justice O'Connor's four-Justice plurality, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White and Scalia, distinguished final policymaking authority from discretion to make personnel decisions and concluded that the Court of…

Justice Stevens delivered the opinion for a unanimous participating Court. The Court held that abuse-of-discretion review governs BIA denials of reopening based on failure to present previously unavailable, material evidence or reasonably explain the failure to request asylum during the original proceedings.

Chief Justice Rehnquist's opinion held that public figures and public officials cannot recover damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress from publications such as the parody at issue without showing a false statement of fact made with actual malice.

The Court held that the Compulsory Process Clause protects the right to present defense testimony but does not categorically prohibit excluding a witness as a discovery sanction.

Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court affirming the Fifth Circuit. The Court held that an undersecured creditor is not entitled to compensation under § 362(d)(1) for the delay in foreclosure caused by the automatic bankruptcy stay.

Justice White's opinion held that Spectrum was a supervised curricular newspaper, not a public forum, and that educators may exercise editorial control over school-sponsored student expression when reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.

The Court, per curiam, affirmed both Court of Appeals judgments. An equally divided Court affirmed the dismissal of the officers’ separate lawsuit as an impermissible collateral attack on the consent decree, without establishing a binding resolution of that issue.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice O’Connor, held that a state judge was not absolutely immune from a § 1983 damages suit challenging his allegedly sex-discriminatory decisions to demote and discharge a probation officer.