The 2015 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 5, 2015, and concluded October 2, 2016. This was the eleventh term of Associate Justice Samuel Alito's tenure on the Court. | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Type | Case | Citation | Issues | Joined by | Other opinions | |||||||||||||
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Hurst v. Florida | 577 U.S. ___ (2016) | death penalty • Sixth Amendment • right to a jury trial • judicial factfinding of aggravating circumstances after jury advisory recommendation |
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Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez | 577 U.S. ___ (2016) | Article III • Case or Controversy Clause • effect of unaccepted settlement offer or offer of judgment on mootness • Telephone Consumer Protection Act • liability of federal contractor |
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Menominee Tribe of Wis. v. United States | 577 U.S. ___ (2016) | Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act • Contract Disputes Act of 1978 • equitable tolling of statute of limitations | Unanimous | |||||||||||||||
Taylor v. Yee | 577 U.S. ___ (2016) | notification and length of state law escheat periods • Fourteenth Amendment • Due Process Clause | Thomas | |||||||||||||||
Alito concurred in the Court's denial of certiorari. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ben-Levi v. Brown | 577 U.S. ___ (2016) | Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 • First Amendment • Free Exercise Clause • prison denial of inmate request for group prayer | ||||||||||||||||
Alito dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari. | ||||||||||||||||||
Wearry v. Cain | 577 U.S. ___ (2016) | Due Process Clause • obligation of prosecution to turn over exculpatory evidence | Thomas |
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Caetano v. Massachusetts | 577 U.S. ___ (2016) | Second Amendment • prohibition on stun gun ownership | Thomas |
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Evenwel v. Abbott | 578 U.S. ___ (2016) | legislative redistricting based on total state population • Fourteenth Amendment • Equal Protection Clause • one person, one vote doctrine | Thomas (in part) |
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Nichols v. United States | 578 U.S. ___ (2016) | Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act • change of residence registration requirements | Unanimous [2] | |||||||||||||||
Molina-Martinez v. United States | 578 U.S. ___ (2016) | Federal Sentencing Guidelines • sentencing based on incorrect range | Thomas |
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Ocasio v. United States | 578 U.S. ___ (2016) | Hobbs Act • conspiracy | Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan |
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Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins | 578 U.S. ___ (2016) | Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 • Article III • injury-in-fact | Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Breyer, Kagan |
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Foster v. Chatman | 578 U.S. ___ (2016) | Fourteenth Amendment • Equal Protection Clause • racial discrimination in juror peremptory challenges • adequate and independent state ground |
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Green v. Brennan | 578 U.S. ___ (2016) | Title VII • constructive discharge • statute of limitations |
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Adams v. Alabama | 578 U.S. ___ (2016) | Eighth Amendment • mandatory life imprisonment of minors • retroactivity of new constitutional rules | Thomas |
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Alito concurred in the Court's decision to grant certiorari, vacate the lower court's opinion, and remand. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Leahy-Smith America Invents Act • appealability of decision to conduct inter partes review | Sotomayor |
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Taylor v. United States | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Hobbs Act • robbery of drug dealers as satisfaction of commerce requirement | Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan |
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RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act • extraterritorial application | Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas; Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan (in part) |
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Williams v. Louisiana | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Fourteenth Amendment • Equal Protection Clause • racial discrimination in juror peremptory challenges • judge-supplied race-neutral reason for challenge | Thomas |
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Alito dissented from the Court's order to grant, vacate, and remand. | ||||||||||||||||||
Flowers v. Mississippi | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Fourteenth Amendment • Equal Protection Clause • racial discrimination in juror peremptory challenges • GVR orders | Thomas | |||||||||||||||
Alito dissented from the Court's order to grant, vacate, and remand. | ||||||||||||||||||
Fisher v. University of Tex. at Austin | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Fourteenth Amendment • Equal Protection Clause • affirmative action • race-conscious college admissions program | Roberts, Thomas |
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Birchfield v. North Dakota | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Fourth Amendment • search incident to arrest • drunk driving • implied consent to breathalyzer or blood alcohol content tests | Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer, Kagan |
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Mathis v. United States | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Armed Career Criminal Act • sentence enhancement for prior convictions |
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Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | Fourteenth Amendment • abortion • regulation of abortion providers • Texas Senate Bill 5 • res judicata | Roberts, Thomas |
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Stormans, Inc. v. Wiesman | 579 U.S. ___ (2016) | First Amendment • Free Exercise Clause • religious objection by pharmacist to dispensing emergency contraceptives | Roberts, Thomas | |||||||||||||||
Alito dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari. |
Antonin Gregory Scalia was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative wing. For catalyzing an originalist and textualist movement in American law, he has been described as one of the most influential jurists of the twentieth century, and one of the most important justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Scalia was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018, and the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University was named in his honor.
Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the high court by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served on it since January 31, 2006. After Antonin Scalia, Alito is the second Italian American justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
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The Supreme Court of the United States handed down nine per curiam opinions during its 2008 term, which began on October 6, 2008 and concluded October 4, 2009.
Dada v. Mukasey, 554 U.S. 1 (2008), was a United States Supreme Court case involving deportation procedures.
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The Supreme Court of the United States handed down six per curiam opinions during its 2012 term, which began October 1, 2012 and concluded October 6, 2013.
The Supreme Court of the United States handed down eighteen per curiam opinions during its 2015 term, which began October 5, 2015 and concluded October 2, 2016.
Sessions v. Dimaya, 584 U.S. 148 (2018), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that 18 U.S.C. § 16(b), a statute defining certain "aggravated felonies" for immigration purposes, is unconstitutionally vague. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) classifies some categories of crimes as "aggravated felonies", and immigrants convicted of those crimes, including those legally present in the United States, are almost certain to be deported. Those categories include "crimes of violence", which are defined by the "elements clause" and the "residual clause". The Court struck down the "residual clause", which classified every felony that, "by its nature, involves a substantial risk" of "physical force against the person or property" as an aggravated felony.