United States Reports
606 volumes · 104,521 opinions
4,420 opinions in United States Reports with a Wikipedia-sourced synopsis — the cases notable enough that someone wrote an encyclopedia article about them.
- Martin v. Ohio (1987)480 U.S. 228
Martin v. Ohio, 480 U.S. 228 (1987), is a criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court held that the presumption of innocence requiring prosecution to prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt only applies to elements of the offense, and does not extend to the defense of justification, whereby states could legislate a burden on the defense to prove justification. The decision was split 5–4. The decision does not preclude states from requiring such a burden on the prosecution in their laws.
- United States v. Dunn (1987)480 U.S. 294
United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294 (1987), is a U.S. Supreme Court decision relating to the open fields doctrine limiting the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
- Arizona v. Hicks (1987)480 U.S. 321
Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321 (1987), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the police to have probable cause before they can seize items in plain view.
- Town of Newton v. Rumery (1987)480 U.S. 386
Newton v. Rumery, 480 U.S. 386 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that the prosecutor may offer a plea bargain to a defendant in exchange for the defendant's promise not to sue the state under Section 1983, and that contract may be enforceable. Not all of these agreements are enforceable.
- Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca (1987)480 U.S. 421
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case that decided that the standard for withholding of removal, which was set in INS v. Stevic, was too high a standard for applicants for asylum to satisfy. In its place, consistent with the standard set by the United Nations, the Court in held that an applicant for asylum in the United States needs to demonstrate only a "well-founded fear" of persecution, which can be met even if the applicant does not show that he will more likely than not be persecuted if he is returned to his home country.
- Keystone Bituminous Coal Assn. v. DeBenedictis (1987)480 U.S. 470
Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass'n v. DeBenedictis, 480 U.S. 470 (1987), is a United States Supreme Court case interpreting the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause. In this case, the court upheld a Pennsylvania statute which limited coal mining causing damage to buildings, dwellings, and cemeteries through subsidence.
- California Coastal Commission v. Granite Rock Co. (1987)480 U.S. 572
California Coastal Commission v. Granite Rock Co., 480 U.S. 572 (1987), is a United States Supreme Court case addressing the question of whether United States Forest Service regulations, federal land use statutes and regulations, or the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, preempt the California Coastal Commission's imposition of a permit requirement on operation of an unpatented mining claim in a national forest. The court ruled that even if federal land is not included in the Coastal Zone Management Act's interpretation of "coastal zone," the act does not automatically preempt all state regulation of activities on federal lands.
- Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara Cty. (1987)480 U.S. 616
Johnson v. Transportation Agency, 480 U.S. 616 (1987), is the only United States Supreme Court case to address a sex-based affirmative action plan in the employment context. The case was brought by Paul Johnson, a male Santa Clara County Transportation Agency employee, who was passed over for a promotion in favor of Diane Joyce, a female employee who Johnson argued was less qualified. The Court found that the plan did not violate the protection against discrimination on the basis of sex in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- O'CONNOR v. Ortega (1987)480 U.S. 709
O'Connor v. Ortega, 480 U.S. 709 (1987), is a United States Supreme Court decision on the Fourth Amendment rights of government employees with regard to administrative searches in the workplace, during investigations by supervisors for violations of employee policy rather than by law enforcement for criminal offenses. It was brought by Magno Ortega, a doctor at a California state hospital after his supervisors found allegedly inculpatory evidence in his office while he was on administrative leave pending an investigation of alleged misconduct. Some of what they uncovered was later used to impeach a witness who testified on his behalf at the hearing where he unsuccessfully appealed his dismissal. Although lower courts had considered the issue, it was the first time the Supreme Court had.
- California Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Guerra (1987)479 U.S. 272
California Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Guerra, 479 U.S. 272 (1987), is a US labor law case of the United States Supreme Court about whether a state may require employers to provide greater pregnancy benefits than required by federal law, as well as the ability to require pregnancy benefits to women without similar benefits to men. The court held that The California Fair Employment and Housing Act §12945(b)(2), which requires employers to provide leave and reinstatement to employees disabled by pregnancy, is consistent with federal law.
- Griffith v. Kentucky (1987)479 U.S. 314
Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314 (1987), is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court.
- Colorado v. Bertine (1987)479 U.S. 367
Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367 (1987), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit a State from proving charges with the evidence discovered during an inventory search.
- Colorado v. Spring (1987)479 U.S. 564
Colorado v. Spring, 479 U.S. 564 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a suspect's awareness of the crimes about which he may be questioned is not relevant to his waiver of his Fifth Amendment rights.
- Rose v. Arkansas State Police (1986)Held state or territorial law unconstitutional479 U.S. 1
This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 479 of the United States Reports:
- Colorado v. Connelly (1986)479 U.S. 157
Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157 (1986), was a U.S. Supreme Court case that was initiated by Francis Connelly, who insisted that his schizophrenic episode rendered him incompetent, nullifying his waiver of his Miranda rights.
- Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc. (1986)Held federal statute unconstitutional479 U.S. 238
Massachusetts Citizens for Life was a nonprofit corporation, aiming to "defend the right to life of all human beings born and unborn," with advocacy activities.
- Press-Enterprise Company v. Superior Court of California for County of Riverside (1986)478 U.S. 1
This is a list of all United States Supreme Court cases from volume 478 of the United States Reports:
- Thornburg v. Gingles (1986)478 U.S. 30
Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case in which a unanimous Court found that "the legacy of official discrimination ... acted in concert with the multimember districting scheme to impair the ability of "cohesive groups of black voters to participate equally in the political process and to elect candidates of their choice." The ruling resulted in the invalidation of districts in the North Carolina General Assembly and led to more single-member districts in state legislatures.
- Davis v. Bandemer (1986)478 U.S. 109
Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109 (1986), is a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that claims of partisan gerrymandering were justiciable, but failed to agree on a clear standard for the judicial review of the class of claims of a political nature to which such cases belong. The decision was later limited with respect to many of the elements directly involving issues of redistricting and political gerrymandering, but was somewhat broadened with respect to less significant ancillary procedural issues. Democrats had won 51.9% of the votes, but only 43/100 seats. Democrats sued on basis of one man, one vote, however, California Democrats supported the Indiana GOP's plan.
- Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)Overruled (2003)478 U.S. 186
Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld, in a 5–4 ruling, the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults, in this case with respect to homosexual sodomy, though the law did not differentiate between homosexual and heterosexual sodomy. It was overturned in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), though the statute had already been struck down by the Georgia Supreme Court in 1998. The majority opinion, by Justice Byron White, reasoned that the U.S. Constitution did not confer "a fundamental right to engage in homosexual sodomy". A concurring opinion by Chief Justice Warren E.
Overruled by Lawrence v. Texas (2003) - Posadas De Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico (1986)478 U.S. 328
Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico, 478 U.S. 328 (1986), was a 1986 appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States to determine whether Puerto Rico's Games of Chance Act of 1948 is in legal compliance with the United States Constitution, specifically as regards freedom of speech, equal protection and due process. In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court held that the Puerto Rico government (law) could restrict advertisement for casino gambling from being targeted to residents, even if the activity itself was legal and advertisement to tourists was permitted. The U.S.
- Bazemore v. Friday (1986)478 U.S. 385
Bazemore v. Friday, 478 U.S. 385 (1986), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a regression analysis does not have to account for every possible factor that could influence salary in order to be considered as evidence of discrimination.
- Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986)478 U.S. 675
Bethel School District v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court upheld the suspension of a high school student who delivered a sexually suggestive speech at a school assembly. The case involved free speech in public schools.
- Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc. (1986)478 U.S. 697
Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., 478 U.S. 697 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case about the First Amendment and whether freedom of speech was violated by shutting down a bookstore because of illicit sexual activities occurring there. The Court held that the closure was aimed at non-expressive activity and its incidental burden on speech was not subject to any First Amendment scrutiny.
- Bowsher v. Synar (1986)Held federal statute unconstitutional478 U.S. 714
Bowsher v. Synar, 478 U.S. 714 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case that struck down the Gramm–Rudman–Hollings Act as an unconstitutional usurpation of executive power by Congress because the law empowered Congress to terminate the United States Comptroller General for certain specified reasons, including "inefficiency, 'neglect of duty,' or 'malfeasance.'" The named defendant in the original case was Comptroller General Charles Arthur Bowsher and the constitutional challenge was brought forth by Oklahoma Congressman Mike Synar.
- Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson Ex Rel. Thompson (1986)478 U.S. 804
Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson, 478 U.S. 804 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court decision involving the original jurisdiction of the federal district courts under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question jurisdiction).
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor (1986)478 U.S. 833
Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor, 478 U.S. 833 (1986), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held an administrative agency may, in some cases, exert jurisdiction over state-law counterclaims.
- Wardair Canada Inc. v. Florida Department of Revenue (1986)477 U.S. 1
This is a list of all United States Supreme Court cases from volume 477 of the United States Reports:
- Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson (1986)477 U.S. 57
Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986), is a US labor law case, where the United States Supreme Court, in a 9–0 decision, recognized sexual harassment as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case was the first of its kind to reach the Supreme Court and would redefine sexual harassment in the workplace.
- Maine v. Taylor (1986)477 U.S. 131
Maine v. Taylor, 477 U.S. 131 (1986), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that there was an exception to the "virtually per se rule of invalidity" of the dormant commerce clause. The Supreme Court of the United States found that a Maine law prohibiting the importation of out-of-state bait fish was constitutional because Maine authorities could not be certain that imported fish would be free of "parasites and nonnative species" that might pose environmental harm to local ecology. Discriminatory laws may be upheld only if they serve "legitimate local purposes that could not adequately be served by available nondiscriminatory alternatives," wrote Justice Blackmun, author of the majority opinion. In City of Philadelphia v.
- Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. (1986)477 U.S. 242
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986), is a United States Supreme Court case articulating the standard for a trial court to grant summary judgment. Summary judgment will lie when, taking all factual inferences in the non-movant's favor, there exists no genuine issue as to a material fact and the movant deserves judgment as a matter of law. Because courts almost always cite Liberty Lobby in their opinions for the standard regarding motions for summary judgment, Liberty Lobby is the most cited Supreme Court case.
- Celotex Corporation v. Catrett H (1986)477 U.S. 317
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. Written by Associate Justice William Rehnquist, the decision of the Court held that a party moving for summary judgment need show only that the opposing party lacks evidence sufficient to support its case. A broader version of that doctrine was later formally added to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
- Kimmelman v. Morrison (1986)477 U.S. 365
Kimmelman v. Morrison, 477 U.S. 365 (1986), was a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that clarified the relationship of the right to effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment to other constitutional rights in criminal procedure. In this case, evidence against the defendant was probably seized illegally, violating the Fourth Amendment, but he lost the chance to argue that point due to his lawyer's ineffectiveness. The prosecution argued that the defendant's attempt to make a Sixth Amendment argument via a habeas corpus petition was really a way to sneak his procedurally defaulted Fourth Amendment claim in through the back door.
- Ford v. Wainwright (1986)477 U.S. 399
Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986), is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the common law rule that the insane cannot be executed; therefore the petitioner is entitled to a competency evaluation and to an evidentiary hearing in court on the question of their competency to be executed.
- Murray v. Carrier (1986)477 U.S. 478
Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478 (1986), is a United States Supreme Court case decided in 1986. The Court held that the "cause and prejudice" rule applies to appeals, so a person ordinarily cannot file a habeas petition to review a constitutional problem that their lawyer did not complain about in their initial appeal. The lawyer must have deliberately declined to raise the constitutional issue rather than inadvertently failed to do so. More specifically, the Court held that "the existence of cause for a procedural default must ordinarily turn on whether the prisoner can show that some objective factor external to the defense impeded counsel's efforts to comply with the State's procedural rule." The majority opinion was authored by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
- Department of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms v. Galioto (1986)477 U.S. 556
Department of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms v. Galioto, 477 U.S. 556 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case.
- Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Dayton Christian Schools, Inc. (1986)477 U.S. 619
Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Dayton Christian Schools, Inc., 477 U.S. 619 (1986), reversed a lower court's decision and stated that the lower court should not have heard the case until after the Ohio Civil Rights Commission had concluded their investigation. The commission argued that the non-renewal and firing constituted unlawful sex discrimination, while the school argued that this was an ecclesiastical matter not suitable for review by civil authorities.
- Lyng v. Castillo (1986)477 U.S. 635
Lyng v. Castillo, 477 U.S. 635 (1986), reversed a lower court's decision that the change in the statutory definition of a household violated the appellee's due process rights. The program rules for food stamps were changed in 1981 and 1982 which changed the definitions of households. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the District Court erred in using heightened scrutiny to analyze the validity of the household definition.
- Skipper v. South Carolina (1986)476 U.S. 1
Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the rule from Lockett v. Ohio (1978) dictated that mitigating evidence not be subject to limitations based on relevance.
- McLaughlin v. United States (1986)476 U.S. 16
McLaughlin v. United States, 476 U.S. 16 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously held that an unloaded handgun is a “dangerous weapon” within the meaning of federal bank robbery laws. Justice John Paul Stevens' brief four-paragraph opinion in McLaughlin has been described by some analysts as "the shortest opinion by the Court in decades."
- Diamond v. Charles (1986)476 U.S. 54
Diamond v. Charles, 476 U.S. 54 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case that determined that citizens do not have Article III standing to challenge the constitutionality of a state statute in federal court unless they possess a "direct stake" in the outcome.
- Batson v. Kentucky (1986)Altered precedent476 U.S. 79
Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that a prosecutor's use of a peremptory challenge in a criminal case—the dismissal of jurors without stating a valid cause for doing so—may not be used to exclude jurors based solely on their race. The Court ruled that this practice violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case gave rise to the term Batson challenge, an objection to a peremptory challenge based on the standard established by the Supreme Court's decision in this case. Subsequent jurisprudence has resulted in the extension of Batson to civil cases (Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company) and cases where jurors are excluded on the basis of sex (J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B.).
Overruled Swain v. Alabama (1965) - California v. Ciraolo (1986)476 U.S. 207
California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207 (1986), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that aerial observation of a person's backyard by police, even if done without a search warrant, does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
- Dow Chemical Company v. United States (1986)476 U.S. 227
Dow Chemical Co. v. United States, 476 U.S. 227 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case decided in 1986 dealing with the right to privacy and advanced technology of aerial surveillance.
- Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education (1986)476 U.S. 267
Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education, 476 U.S. 267 (1986), was a case before the United States Supreme Court. It is the seminal case for the "strong-basis-in-evidence standard" for affirmative action programs.
- City of Los Angeles v. Preferred Communications, Inc. (1986)476 U.S. 488
City of Los Angeles v. Preferred Communications, Inc., 476 U.S. 488 (1986), is a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the extent of discretion given to cable franchises to challenge restrictions on First Amendment grounds. The Court affirmed the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and remanded the case to the United States District Court for the Central District of California, holding that: ...where the city has made factual assertions to justify restrictions on cable television franchising and these assertions are disputed by respondent, there must be a fuller development of the disputed factual issues before this Court will decide the legal issues.
- South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, Inc. (1986)476 U.S. 498
South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, Inc., 476 U.S. 498 (1986), is an important U.S. Supreme Court precedent for aboriginal title in the United States decided in the wake of County of Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York State (Oneida II) (1985). Distinguishing Oneida II, the Court held that federal policy did not preclude the application of a state statute of limitations to the land claim of a tribe that had been terminated, such as the Catawba tribe.
- Bowen v. Roy (1986)476 U.S. 693
Bowen v. Roy, 476 U.S. 693 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case which ruled that a government program requiring the use of a Social Security number did not violate the First Amendment.
- United States v. Dion (1986)476 U.S. 734
United States v. Dion, 476 U.S. 734 (1986), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States which held that, pursuant to the Eagle Protection Act, American Indians were prohibited from hunting eagles. Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote the unanimous opinion of the Court.
- Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (1986)Overruled (1992)476 U.S. 747
Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 476 U.S. 747 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case involving a challenge to Pennsylvania's Abortion Control Act of 1982.
Overruled by Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)