Supreme Court of the United States, 1995

Justice O’Connor delivered the Court’s opinion holding that “use” of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) requires active employment during and in relation to the predicate offense; proximity, accessibility, storage, or possession with an intent to use the firearm later is insufficient.

Justice Thomas, writing for a unanimous Court, held that 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d) bars appellate review of an order remanding a bankruptcy-related case to state court for a timely raised removal defect, regardless of whether removal occurred under § 1441(a) or § 1452(a).

Justice Ginsburg, writing for seven Justices, held that the ultimate determination whether a suspect was in custody for Miranda purposes is a mixed question of law and fact requiring independent federal habeas review, rather than a factual finding presumed correct under 28 U. S. C. § 2254(d).

Justice Souter's opinion for the Court held that the fraud exception to discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) requires justifiable, not reasonable, reliance. The statute incorporates the generally accepted common-law understanding of fraud, under which reliance depends on the particular creditor's characteristics…

The Court, in an opinion by Justice O'Connor, held that Rule 11(f) does not require a factual-basis inquiry for a stipulated criminal forfeiture because forfeiture is punishment rather than a substantive offense.

The Court unanimously held that a bank's temporary refusal to pay funds from a debtor's account while seeking relief from the automatic stay to exercise a setoff right did not violate the Bankruptcy Code's automatic stay.

Justice Kennedy's opinion, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas, held that racial-gerrymandering plaintiffs need not establish that a district has a bizarre shape. Strict scrutiny applies when race predominates over traditional race-neutral districting principles.

The Supreme Court reversed the D.C. Circuit's judgment invalidating the Interior Secretary's regulation defining 'harm' in the Endangered Species Act's 'take' prohibition to include significant habitat modification or degradation that actually kills or injures wildlife.

The Court held that plaintiffs challenging Louisiana's congressional redistricting plan lacked standing because they did not reside in the allegedly racially gerrymandered district and had not otherwise demonstrated that they personally suffered racial discrimination.

The Court affirmed the judgment requiring Ohio to permit the Klan's cross display in Capitol Square. Justice Scalia's opinion commanded seven votes in Parts I–III: private religious expression receives full free-speech protection, content-based exclusions from a traditional public forum require narrow tailoring to a…

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Kennedy joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas, held that the University's exclusion of an otherwise eligible student publication from printing subsidies because of its religious perspective constituted unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

Justice Scalia's opinion for the Court held that Vernonia's suspicionless drug-testing policy for student athletes was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment, balancing athletes' diminished privacy expectations, the relatively unobtrusive testing procedures, and the demonstrated need to address student drug use and…

The Court held that obstruction under § 1503 requires a nexus between the defendant's conduct and a judicial proceeding, including knowledge that the conduct is likely to affect that proceeding. Aguilar's false statements to investigating FBI agents did not satisfy that requirement on this record.

Justice Scalia wrote for a unanimous Court that the Fifth and Sixth Amendments require a jury to determine every element of a criminal offense, including materiality when it is an element.

Chief Justice Rehnquist, joined by Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, held that neither Hawaii's prison regulations nor the Due Process Clause gave Conner a protected liberty interest in avoiding his 30-day disciplinary segregation.

Justice Souter delivered the unanimous opinion holding that Massachusetts violated the First Amendment by applying its public accommodations law to require private parade organizers to include GLIB as a contingent conveying a message the organizers did not wish to convey.

The Court held that the Attorney General’s Westfall Act certification that a federal employee acted within the scope of employment is judicially reviewable for purposes of substituting the United States as defendant.

Justice O'Connor's majority opinion held that Jones Act seaman status requires duties contributing to a vessel's function or mission and a connection to a vessel in navigation, or an identifiable group of vessels, substantial in both duration and nature.

The Court affirmed, holding that consideration of uncharged relevant conduct in selecting a sentence within the legislatively authorized range does not constitute punishment for that conduct under the Double Jeopardy Clause.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Stevens joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Breyer, held that neither the backpay nor the liquidated-damages portion of Schleier’s ADEA settlement was excludable from gross income under § 104(a)(2).

Chief Justice Rehnquist, writing for a unanimous Court, held that the de facto officer doctrine could not validate the actions of improperly appointed military appellate judges against Ryder's timely Appointments Clause challenge.

The Court held that the challenge to the salary orders fairly included the permissible scope of the District Court's remedial authority. Because the established constitutional violation was intradistrict and lacked significant interdistrict segregative effects, the District Court exceeded its authority by ordering…

Justice O’Connor delivered the unanimous opinion of the participating Justices. The Court held that Brillhart’s discretionary standard, rather than Colorado River’s exceptional-circumstances test, governs whether to stay this declaratory judgment action in favor of parallel state proceedings.

Justice Breyer delivered the Court’s unanimous opinion holding that an official asserting qualified immunity cannot immediately appeal a denial of summary judgment insofar as it determines that the pretrial record presents a genuine issue of fact for trial.

The Court held that Adarand had standing to seek prospective relief and that all governmental racial classifications, including federal classifications intended to benefit disadvantaged minorities, must satisfy strict scrutiny.

Chief Justice Rehnquist's opinion, joined by Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Breyer, held that confinement in a community treatment center as a condition of release on bail is not “official detention” qualifying for sentence credit under 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b).

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Stevens joined by Justices Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, affirmed the Arkansas Supreme Court's judgment invalidating the congressional ballot restrictions in Amendment 73.

Justice Thomas delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the common-law knock-and-announce principle forms part of the Fourth Amendment inquiry into the reasonableness of entry into a dwelling.

Justice Breyer delivered the unanimous opinion affirming the Court of Appeals. Courts independently decide arbitrability unless clear and unmistakable evidence shows that the parties agreed to submit that question to arbitration.

The Court, per curiam, held that Batson’s second step requires a facially race-neutral explanation for a peremptory strike, not a persuasive or plausible explanation related to juror performance.

The Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist joined by Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, held that the Gun-Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress's Commerce Clause authority and affirmed the Fifth Circuit's judgment reversing Lopez's conviction.

Justice Thomas, writing for seven Justices, held that retroactively applying California's 1981 amendment permitting deferral of certain multiple offenders' parole suitability hearings did not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause.

The Court held that a timely motion to reconsider a Board of Immigration Appeals deportation order does not affect the order's finality or toll the statutory 90-day period for judicial review.

Justice Souter, writing for a five-Justice majority, held that the State's suppression of favorable evidence violated Brady because the evidence, considered cumulatively, created a reasonable probability of a different result.

The Court held that the Edwards were required to obey the Bankruptcy Court’s injunction barring execution against Celotex’s surety and could not attack that injunction collaterally in the federal courts in Texas.

The Court, in an opinion by Stevens joined by O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, held that Ohio's prohibition of anonymous campaign literature violated the First Amendment and reversed the Ohio Supreme Court's judgment sustaining McIntyre's fine.

Justice Breyer delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to attorneys who regularly collect consumer debts through litigation. The statutory definition encompasses those activities, and Congress repealed the express attorney exemption without replacing it with a…

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Thomas, held that state common-law claims alleging negligent failure to install antilock braking systems on tractor-trailers were neither expressly nor impliedly preempted by federal law.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Souter joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Stevens, Kennedy, and Ginsburg, held that Oklahoma may impose its sales tax on the full price of bus tickets sold in Oklahoma for interstate travel originating there.