Supreme Court of the United States, 1998

Justice Scalia delivered the unanimous opinion affirming the dismissal of Texas’s declaratory-judgment action as unripe. Texas sought a ruling that appointing masters or management teams to oversee underperforming school districts would not require preclearance under § 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Justice O’Connor delivered the unanimous opinion holding that 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) excepts from discharge all liability arising from money or property obtained by fraud, including treble damages, attorney’s fees, and costs, rather than merely the value the debtor obtained.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Breyer joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor, Kennedy, and Thomas, held that 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2) authorizes an enhanced sentence for recidivism rather than defining a separate crime.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Breyer joined by Justices Stevens, O'Connor, Souter, and Ginsburg, held that Bruton's Confrontation Clause protection applies when a nontestifying codefendant's confession replaces the defendant's name with obvious blanks, the word "deleted," or similar indications of alteration.

Chief Justice Rehnquist, writing for a unanimous Court, held that property damage during a no-knock entry does not require a heightened showing of exigent circumstances beyond the reasonable-suspicion standard established in Richards v. Wisconsin.

Justice Scalia, writing for a unanimous Court, held that same-sex sexual harassment may violate Title VII and reversed and remanded the Fifth Circuit's judgment rejecting such claims categorically.

The Court held that the Emergency Planning and Community Right‑to‑Know Act (EPCRA) does not authorize citizen suits for purely past violations and, consequently, the plaintiff lacks Article III standing because the relief sought is not redressable.

Justice Thomas, writing for a unanimous Court, held that local legislators are absolutely immune from liability under § 1983 for legislative activities. Whether conduct is legislative depends on the nature of the act, not the official's intent or motive.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Scalia joined by all Justices except Justice Stevens, held that Spencer's challenge to his parole revocation became moot after his sentence expired.

Justice Ginsburg delivered the unanimous opinion holding that debts arising from negligently or recklessly inflicted injuries are not excepted from bankruptcy discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6). The exception requires an intentional injury, not merely an intentional act that causes injury.

The Court held that a district court receiving an action for multidistrict pretrial proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1407(a) cannot use § 1404(a) to retain that action for trial. Section 1407(a) mandates remand of unterminated actions by the conclusion of pretrial proceedings, making the Panel’s rule authorizing…

The Court held that competing banks had standing under the Administrative Procedure Act to challenge the NCUA's interpretation of the Federal Credit Union Act because their interest in limiting credit unions' markets was arguably within the zone of interests protected by § 109.

The Court held that the banks have prudential standing to challenge the NCUA’s chartering decision and that the NCUA’s interpretation of the common‑bond requirement in §109 of the Federal Credit Union Act is impermissible under the first step of Chevron, affirming the Court of Appeals.

Justice Ginsburg delivered the Court’s opinion holding that the claim-preclusive effect of a prior federal judgment does not authorize removal of a state-law action under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b).