Supreme Court of the United States, 1992

The Court held that transferring cash representing the res in an in rem civil-forfeiture action from the district does not divest the Court of Appeals of jurisdiction. It further held that the funds remained reachable if the claimant prevailed, so the appeal was not moot and a favorable judgment would not be useless.

Justice Thomas, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor, Scalia, and Kennedy, held that a civil rights plaintiff awarded nominal damages is a prevailing party eligible for attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988, but affirmed the denial of fees because Farrar's minimal success justified no fee.

The Court held that the prevailing party's transfer of the res outside the district does not divest an appellate court of jurisdiction over an in rem civil forfeiture proceeding. It reversed the dismissal of the Bank's appeal and remanded. Blackmun's jurisdictional opinion was joined by all Justices except Thomas.

Justice White delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the alleged forcible removal of the Soldals’ trailer home constituted a seizure under the Fourth Amendment, even without an invasion of privacy or liberty.

Justice Stevens delivered the unanimous opinion holding that compliance with an IRS summons enforcement order did not moot the Church’s appeal. Although disclosure could not be undone, a court could grant meaningful partial relief by ordering the IRS to return or destroy its copies of the disputed tapes.

The Court, per curiam, denied Martin leave to proceed in forma pauperis under Rule 39.8 and directed the Clerk not to accept further certiorari petitions from him in noncriminal matters unless he paid the docketing fee and complied with Rule 33.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Scalia joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White, O'Connor, and Thomas, held that a regulation eliminating all economically beneficial uses of land requires compensation unless background principles of state property and nuisance law already prohibited those uses.

The Court reaffirmed Roe's essential holding protecting a woman's choice of abortion before viability, permitting postviability restrictions with life and health exceptions, and recognizing legitimate state interests throughout pregnancy.

The Court reversed the District Court’s judgment invalidating the allocation of overseas federal employees to States for congressional apportionment. Justice O’Connor’s majority opinion held that the Secretary’s census report was not final agency action and that the President is not an agency subject to Administrative…

The Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist joined by Justices White, O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas, held that the Port Authority airport terminals are nonpublic forums and that their prohibition on solicitation is reasonable under the First Amendment.

The Court held that inherently distinctive trade dress may receive protection under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act without proof of secondary meaning and affirmed the Fifth Circuit. Justice White's opinion, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Blackmun, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Souter, explained that the…

The Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. Justice Stevens wrote for seven Justices in Parts I–IV, holding that the statutes' express pre-emption provisions govern their pre-emptive scope and that the 1965 Act did not pre-empt state-law damages actions.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Scalia joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White, Kennedy, Souter, and Thomas, held that the Solid Waste Disposal Act and Clean Water Act do not permit enhancing a lodestar attorney's fee to compensate for the risk of nonpayment associated with contingent representation.

Justice Souter, joined by Justices White, Blackmun, Stevens, and Kennedy, held that the prolonged delay between Doggett's indictment and arrest violated his Sixth Amendment speedy trial right.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Kennedy joined by Justices Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor, and Souter, held that school-directed clergy prayers at public secondary-school graduation ceremonies violate the Establishment Clause.

The Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit's refusal to reach Sawyer's successive and abusive habeas claims. Chief Justice Rehnquist, joined by Justices White, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, and Thomas, held that actual innocence of the death penalty requires clear and convincing evidence that, absent constitutional error, no…

The Court affirmed, holding that due process permits California to require a criminal defendant to prove incompetence to stand trial by a preponderance of the evidence and to retain a corresponding presumption of competence.

The Court upheld the Act's monetary and access incentives but invalidated its take-title provision because Congress may encourage, but may not compel, States to enact or administer a federal regulatory program.

The Court unanimously reversed and remanded, with no single opinion commanding five votes. Justice Thomas, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Scalia, concluded that the evidence satisfied Jackson v.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Blackmun joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White, Stevens, Kennedy, and Souter, held that criminal defendants may not exercise peremptory challenges on racial grounds.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Blackmun joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Souter, upheld California's acquisition-value property tax system under rational-basis review.

The Court held that the domestic relations exception is a statutory limitation on diversity jurisdiction, not a constitutional restriction, and covers only the issuance of divorce, alimony, and child custody decrees.

Justice Blackmun, writing for a unanimous Court, held that “applicable nonbankruptcy law” in 11 U.S.C. § 541(c)(2) includes federal law and that the enforceable antialienation provision in Shumate’s ERISA-qualified pension plan permitted exclusion of his interest from his bankruptcy estate.

Justice Scalia delivered the unanimous opinion holding that Argentina was subject to jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s commercial-activity exception. Argentina’s issuance of negotiable bonds was commercial because it acted as a private market participant, regardless of its sovereign economic…

The Court held that the environmental organizations lacked Article III standing to challenge the regulation restricting Endangered Species Act consultation requirements to domestic actions and the high seas.

Justice White, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Souter, and Thomas, held that Hawaii's prohibition on write-in voting did not violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments when considered within its constitutionally sufficient ballot-access system.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Blackmun joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White, Stevens, Kennedy, and Souter, held that competition in an equipment market does not as a matter of law preclude market or monopoly power in derivative parts and service aftermarkets.

Justice Scalia, joined by Justices White, O'Connor, Kennedy, and Thomas, held that the Airline Deregulation Act preempts enforcement of the NAAG fare-advertising guidelines through state consumer-protection laws because those requirements relate to airline rates.

The Supreme Court held that Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-7-111(b), which prohibits soliciting votes and displaying or distributing campaign materials within 100 feet of a polling place entrance, does not violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Justice Kennedy concurred in the judgment and explained that the compelling-interest analysis should not generally justify content-based restrictions on speech, but may help determine whether the government's asserted justification is genuinely unrelated to suppressing expression.

The Court affirmed Evans's conviction, holding that Hobbs Act extortion under color of official right does not require an affirmative act of inducement by the public official. The Government must show that the official obtained a payment to which he was not entitled, knowing it was made in return for official acts…

Justice Blackmun, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White, Stevens, and Kennedy, held that backpay received in settlement of claims under Title VII as it existed before the 1991 amendments is not excludable from gross income under § 104(a)(2).

The Court held that Tennessee's prohibition on campaign solicitation and campaign-material display or distribution within 100 feet of a polling-place entrance does not violate the First Amendment.

Justice Scalia concurred in the judgment upholding Tennessee's restriction on election-day electioneering within 100 feet of polling places. He reasoned that the long American tradition of restricting speech and physical presence near polling places means those areas are not traditional public forums on election day…

Justice Stevens, joined by Justices O’Connor and Souter, dissented from the judgment upholding Tennessee’s campaign-free zone. He concluded that the statute directly and content selectively burdened core political speech, and that Tennessee had not shown the restriction necessary or narrowly tailored to protect…

The Court held that due process permits North Dakota to require Quill to collect use taxes because Quill purposefully directed substantial business activities toward the State, overruling the contrary physical-presence holdings of National Bellas Hess.

The Court unanimously held that the Government has discretion, rather than a duty, to file a substantial-assistance motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) and Sentencing Guideline § 5K1.1, but that district courts may review a refusal for unconstitutional motives.

Justice O'Connor, writing for six Justices, held that private defendants facing § 1983 liability for invoking unconstitutional state replevin, garnishment, or attachment statutes are not entitled to the qualified immunity from suit recognized in Harlow.

The Court held that Nevada violated Riggins' rights by continuing involuntary antipsychotic medication during his criminal trial without findings establishing its necessity or considering reasonable alternatives.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice White, held that Louisiana violated due process by indefinitely confining Foucha in a psychiatric institution after the State conceded that he was no longer mentally ill, based on dangerousness that he bore the burden of disproving.