2002 TERM PER CURIAM OPINIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down twelve ''per curiam'' opinions during its 2002 term, which lasted from October 7, 2002, until October 5, 2003.^[1]
These opinions generally fall into four general categories. First are cases in which the Court decides that the lower court was in error purely on the information and arguments presented in the petitions for ''certiorari'' and oppositions alone, ostensibly because the error was clear in light of established law, though dissents are not uncommon. These opinions will simultaneously grant ''cert.'', reverse or vacate the lower court's decision, and remand the case to the lower court. These opinions tend to be shorter and less complicated than those in cases for which full briefing was submitted by the parties and oral argument conducted.
Similarly, the Court will frequently grant ''cert.'', vacate, and remand for reconsideration in light of a new Supreme Court decision, in order to let the lower court determine the impact of precedent upon its earlier decision. As in ''Dow Chemical Co. v. Stephenson'', 539 U.S. 111 (2003), these are typically simple one-line orders, and sometimes referred to as "GVR" decisions (for "grant-vacate-remand").^[2]
The third general category of ''per curiam'' opinions are cases in which the Court dismisses a writ of ''certiorari'' as improvidently granted, having decided after granting the writ that the issues were not ripe for review, or that the case did not squarely present an issue of substantive federal law. These are generally one-line opinions with no substantive content, though a concurring opinion and two dissents were also filed in the Court's dismissal of ''Nike, Inc. v. Klasky'' 539 U.S. 654 (2003), discussed below. Also, as in ''Nike, Inc.'', this sometimes occurs after the case has already been briefed and argued, as it may take further information for the Court to understand the issues or posture of the lower court's decision.
Finally, in cases in which the Court has already granted ''cert.'' but cannot resolve due to a tie vote, the Court may note in a simple one-line opinion that the lower court's decision is affirmed. This was done this term in ''Borden Ranch Partnership v. Army Corps of Engineers'', 537 U.S. 99 (2002), due to Justice Kennedy's non-participation, and in ''Dow Chemical Co. v. Stephenson'', 539 U.S. 111 (2003) in part, due to Justice Stevens' non-participation.
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.

Contents

Court membership

''Early v. Packer''

''INS v. Ventura''

''Woodford v. Visciotti''

''Abdur'Rahman v. Bell''

''Kaupp v. Texas''

''Los Angeles v. David''

''Bunkley v. Florida''

''Citizens Bank v. Alafabco, Inc.''

''Nike, Inc. v. Klasky''

Notes

References

Court membership

Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer

''Early v. Packer''

'537 U.S. 3''Decided November 4, 2002''Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed'

Full case name: ''Richard E. Early, Warden, et al. v. William Packer'' Citations: 537 U.S. 3; 123 S. Ct. 362; 154 L. Ed. 2d 263; 2002 U.S. LEXIS 8314; 71 U.S.L.W. 3312; 2002 Cal. Daily Op. Service 10897; 2002 Daily Journal DAR 12601; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 2 Prior history: Petition denied, sub nom. ''Packer v. Hill'', No. 96-04957, C.D. Cal.; affirmed in part, reversed in part, remanded, 291 F.3d 569 (9th Cir. 2001) (as amended, Feb. 27, 2002); rehearing, rehearing ''en banc'' denied, 291 F.3d 569 (9th Cir. 2002) Subsequent history: Rehearing denied, 537 U.S. 1148 (2003) Full text of the Court's decision

''INS v. Ventura''

'537 U.S. 12''Decided November 4, 2002''Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded'

Full case name: ''Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Fredy Orlando Ventura'' Citations: 537 U.S. 12; 123 S. Ct. 353; 154 L. Ed. 2d 272; 2002 U.S. LEXIS 8313; 71 U.S.L.W. 3314; 2002 Cal. Daily Op. Service 10898; 2002 Daily Journal DAR 12603; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 1 Prior history: Petition for asylum denied, appeal denied, No. A72-688-860, Board of Immigration Appeals; review granted, remanded, 264 F.3d 1150 (9th Cir. 2001); Subsequent history: On remand, remitted, 317 F.3d 1003 (9th Cir. 2003) Full text of the Court's decision

''Woodford v. Visciotti''

'537 U.S. 19''Decided November 4, 2002''Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed'

Full case name: ''Jeanne Woodford, Warden v. John Louis Visciotti Citations: 537 U.S. 19; 123 S. Ct. 357; 154 L. Ed. 2d 279; 2002 U.S. LEXIS 8312; 71 U.S.L.W. 3315; 2002 Cal. Daily Op. Service 10900; 2002 Daily Journal DAR 12605; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 6 Prior history: Writ of ''habeas corpus'' granted in part, denied in part, No. CV 97-04591, C.D. Cal.; affirmed, 288 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 2002) Subsequent history: Cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1004 (2002) Full text of the Court's decision

''Abdur'Rahman v. Bell''

'537 U.S. 88''Decided December 10, 2002''Writ of ''certiorari'' to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed'The Court in Abdur'Rahman dismissed certiorari as improvidently granted.Stevens filed a dissent.

Full case name: ''Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman v. Ricky Bell, Warden'' Citations: 537 U.S. 88; 123 S. Ct. 594; 154 L. Ed. 2d 501; 2002 U.S. LEXIS 9240; 71 U.S.L.W. 4022; 2002 Day 13901; 2002 Cal. Daily Op. Service 11850; 2002 Daily Journal DAR 13901; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 22 Prior history: Stay of execution granted, 927 F. Supp. 262; summary judgment denied, 990 F. Supp. 985 (M.D. Tenn. 1998); writ of ''habeas corpus'' granted, remanded, 999 F. Supp. 1073 (M.D. Tenn. 1998); affirmed in part, reversed in part, remanded, 226 F.3d 696 (6th Cir. 2000); rehearing, rehearing ''en banc'' denied, No. 98-6568, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 34098 (6th Cir. Dec. 22, 2000); ''cert.'' denied, 534 U.S. 970 (2001); rehearing, rehearing ''en banc'' denied, No. 98-6568, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 2520 (6th Cir. Feb. 11, 2002); stay of execution granted, 535 U.S. 981 (2002); cert. granted, 535 U.S. 1016 (2002) Subsequent history: Rehearing denied, 537 U.S. 1227 (2003) Full text of the Court's decision

''Kaupp v. Texas''

'538 U.S. 626''Decided May 5, 2003''Texas Court of Appeals, Fourteenth District vacated and remanded'

Full case name: ''Robert Kaupp v. Texas'' Citations: 538 U.S. 626; 123 S. Ct. 1843; 155 L. Ed. 2d 814; 2003 U.S. LEXIS 3670; 71 U.S.L.W. 3696; 2003 Daily Journal DAR 4865; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 263 Prior history: Defendant convicted, Harris County District Court; affirmed, No. 14-00-00128, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 3732 (Tex. App. June 7, 2001); review denied, Tex. Crim. App., Apr. 17, 2002 Subsequent history: On remand, remanded, No. 14-00-00128, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 718 (Tex. App. Jan. 27, 2004) Full text of the Court's decision

''Los Angeles v. David''

'538 U.S. 715''Decided May 19, 2003''Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed'

Full case name: ''City of Los Angeles v. Edwin F. David'' Citations: 538 U.S. 715; 123 S. Ct. 1895; 155 L. Ed. 2d 946; 2003 U.S. LEXIS 4059; 71 U.S.L.W. 3720; 2003 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4203; 2003 Daily Journal DAR 5289; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 283 Prior history: Judgment for defendant, No. 99-05602, C.D. Cal.; affirmed in part, reversed in part, remanded, 307 F.3d 1143 (9th Cir. 2002) Subsequent history: On remand, affirmed, 335 F.3d 857 (9th Cir. 2003) Full text of the Court's decision

''Bunkley v. Florida''

'538 U.S. 835''Decided May 27, 2003''Supreme Court of Florida vacated and remanded'

Full case name: ''Clyde Timothy Bunkley v. Florida'' Citations: 538 U.S. 835; 123 S. Ct. 2020; 155 L. Ed. 2d 1046; 2003 U.S. LEXIS 4273; 71 U.S.L.W. 3732; 2003 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4373; 2003 Daily Journal DAR 5590; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 317 Prior history: Motion for post-conviction relief denied, Sarasota County Circuit Court; affirmed, 768 So. 2d 510 (Fla. App. 2000); approved, certified question answered in negative, 833 So. 2d 739 (Fla. 2002) Subsequent history: On remand, affirmed, 882 So. 2d 890 (Fla. 2004); rehearing denied, No. 01-297, 2004 Fla. LEXIS 1533 (Fla. Sept. 15, 2004); cert. denied, 543 U.S. 1079 (2005) Full text of the Court's decision

''Citizens Bank v. Alafabco, Inc.''

'539 U.S. 52''Decided June 2, 2003''Supreme Court of Alabama reversed and remanded'

Full case name: ''The Citizens Bank v. Alafabco, Inc., et al.'' Citations: 539 U.S. 52; 123 S. Ct. 2037; 156 L. Ed. 2d 46; 2003 U.S. LEXIS 4418; 71 U.S.L.W. 3748; 10 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 837; 2003 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4560; 2003 Daily Journal DAR 5807; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 324 Prior history: Motion to compel arbitration granted, No. 00-261, Lawrence Circuit Court; reversed and remanded, 872 So. 2d 798 (Ala. 2002); rehearing denied, No. 1010703, 2002 Ala. LEXIS 392 (Ala. Nov. 27, 2002) Subsequent history: On remand, affirmed, 872 So. 2d 809 (Ala. 2003) Full text of the Court's decision

''Nike, Inc. v. Klasky''

'539 U.S. 654''Argued April 23, 2003''Decided June 26, 2003''Writ of ''certiorari'' to the Supreme Court of California dismissed'The Court dismissed certiorari as improvidently granted.Stevens filed a concurrence, which was joined by Ginsburg, and by Souter in part. Kennedy filed a dissent, as did Ginsburg, who was joined by O'Connor.

Full case name: ''Marc Kasky v. Nike, Inc., et al.'' Citations: 539 U.S. 654; 123 S. Ct. 2554; 156 L. Ed. 2d 580; 2003 U.S. LEXIS 5015; 71 U.S.L.W. 4602; 67 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1001; 31 Media L. Rep. 1865; 2003 Cal. Daily Op. Service 5569; 2003 Daily Journal DAR 7028; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 470 Prior history: Judgment for defendants, No. 994446, San Francisco Superior Court; affirmed, 93 Cal. Rptr. 2d 854 (Cal. App. 2000); reversed and remanded, 45 P.3d 243 (Cal. 2002); rehearing denied, No. S087859, 2002 Cal. LEXIS 5250 (Cal. July 31, 2002); cert. granted, 537 U.S. 1099 (2003) Subsequent history: Full text of the Court's decision

Notes

1. Three opinions have not been summarized here due to their lack of substantive content:

★ ''Ford Motor Co. v. McCauley'', 537 U.S. 1 (2002) dismissed certiorari as improvidently granted.[1]

★ ''Borden Ranch Partnership v. Army Corps of Engineers'', 537 U.S. 99 (2002) merely stated that the lower court's judgment was affirmed by an equally divided Court. Justice Kennedy did not participate.

★ ''Dow Chemical Co. v. Stephenson'', 539 U.S. 111 (2003) vacated in part and remanded the lower court's decision with regard to two of the six respondents for further consideration in light of ''Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. v. Henson'', 537 U.S. 28 (2002). With regard to the remaining four respondents, the opinion noted that the judgment was affirmed by an equally divided Court.

2. ''Petitioning and Opposing Certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court'', Timothy S. Bishop and Jeffrey W. Sarles. FindLaw.com.

References

★ Supreme Court slip opinions, 2002 term