Colonel William A. Phillips

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down nine per curiam opinions during its 2016 term, which began October 3, 2016 and concluded October 1, 2017.

Because per curiam decisions are issued from the Court as an institution, these opinions all lack the attribution of authorship or joining votes to specific justices. All justices on the Court at the time the decision was handed down are assumed to have participated and concurred unless otherwise noted.

Court membership

Chief Justice: John Roberts

Associate Justices: Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch (confirmed April 7, 2017)

Bosse v. Oklahoma

580 U.S. ___
Decided October 11, 2016.
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma vacated and remanded.

The Oklahoma court erred in ruling that Payne v. Tennessee (1991) "implicitly overruled" Booth v. Maryland (1987) in regards to the victim's family members' testimony of the defendant(s) and opinion(s) of the sentence. Payne did not specifically state this, and only the Supreme Court can overrule its own precedent.

Thomas filed a concurrence, joined by Alito, writing that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals erred by ruling that Payne overruled Booth in its entirety and that the Supreme Court's decision does not affect the analytical foundations of either Booth or Payne.

White v. Pauly

580 U.S. ___
Decided January 9, 2017.
Tenth Circuit vacated and remanded.

Ginsburg filed a concurrence.

Rippo v. Baker

580 U.S. ___
Decided March 6, 2017.
Supreme Court of Nevada vacated and remanded.

North Carolina v. Covington

581 U.S. ___
Decided June 5, 2017.
District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina remedial order vacated and remanded.

Virginia v. LeBlanc

582 U.S. ___
Decided June 12, 2017.
Fourth Circuit reversed.

Ginsburg filed an opinion concurring in the judgment.

Jenkins v. Hutton

582 U.S. ___
Decided June 19, 2017.
Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded.

Hernandez v. Mesa

582 U.S. ___
Decided June 26, 2017.
Fifth Circuit vacated and remanded.

Thomas filed a dissent. Breyer filed a dissent, joined by Ginsburg. Gorsuch did not participate in the consideration or decision of the case.

Pavan v. Smith

582 U.S. ___; 137 S. Ct. 2075; 198 L. Ed. 2d 636
Decided June 26, 2017.
Supreme Court of Arkansas reversed and remanded.

Ark. Code §20-18-401 (2014): Arkansas statute requiring name of mother's "husband" to be entered on birth certificate as father of child, if mother is married.

Gorsuch filed a dissent, joined by Thomas and Alito.

Trump. v. International Refugee Assistance Project

582 U.S. ___
Decided June 26, 2017.
Certiorari to the Fourth and Ninth Circuits granted; applications to stay injunctions granted in part.

Thomas filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, joined by Alito and Gorsuch.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 580
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 581
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 582

References