Supreme Court of the United States, 1997

Justice Thomas delivered the Court’s opinion preserving the doctrine of equivalents while requiring an objective, element-by-element infringement inquiry that does not eliminate any claim element.

Justice Ginsburg delivered the unanimous opinion of the Court. Yniguez’s departure from state employment mooted her individual claim for prospective relief against Arizona’s official-English provision.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice O'Connor, held that 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) prohibits a federal court from making a firearms sentence concurrent with any other prison term, including a previously imposed state sentence.

The Supreme Court held that materiality of a falsehood is not an element of the offense of knowingly making a false statement to a federally insured bank under 18 U.S.C. § 1014, reasoning from the statute's text, the 1948 consolidation history in which express materiality requirements were dropped from predecessor…

Chief Justice Rehnquist's opinion for the Court held that officers conducting lawful traffic stops may order passengers out of the vehicle without individualized suspicion. Extending Pennsylvania v.

The Court held that Florida's retroactive cancellation of previously awarded prison-overcrowding credits violated the Ex Post Facto Clause by prolonging petitioner's imprisonment after those credits had secured his release.

The Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist, upheld fixed 15-foot buffer zones around abortion-clinic entrances and the accompanying cease-and-desist condition on sidewalk counseling, but invalidated floating 15-foot zones around people and vehicles because they burdened more speech than necessary.

Justice Stevens delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the Federal Government's agreement to indemnify a state instrumentality against litigation costs and adverse judgments does not deprive the instrumentality of Eleventh Amendment immunity.

Justice Scalia wrote for a unanimous Court affirming the Court of Appeals. The Court upheld the Secretary of Labor’s application of the salary-basis test to public-sector employees, including police officers, and deferred to the Secretary’s interpretation that disciplinary pay deductions defeat salaried status when an…

Justice Breyer delivered the unanimous opinion holding that courts cannot equitably toll the time and related amount limitations for tax refund claims under 26 U.S.C. §6511. Even assuming that Irwin’s presumption favoring equitable tolling applied, the statute’s detailed and emphatic language, repeated procedural and…

Justice Thomas delivered the unanimous opinion holding that former employees are protected by Title VII’s antiretaliation provision, § 704(a). Although the term “employees” is ambiguous concerning former employees, the broader statutory context and the provision’s purpose of preserving unfettered access to Title VII’s…

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Souter, held that General Motors had standing to challenge Ohio's taxation of its natural gas purchases but affirmed the judgment rejecting its constitutional claims.

Justice Thomas, writing for a unanimous Court, held that ERISA does not preempt California's requirement that contractors pay prevailing journeyman wages to apprentices from unapproved apprenticeship programs.

Justice Scalia delivered the unanimous opinion holding that Title VII’s employee threshold turns on the existence of employment relationships, not whether employees work or receive compensation on particular days.

The Court, in a per curiam opinion, held that an acquittal does not prevent a sentencing court from considering the underlying conduct when proved by a preponderance of the evidence.