Criminal Procedure, John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, Majority, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist

McKaskle v. Wiggins

Criminal Procedure, John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, Majority, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

In Faretta v. California, 422 U. S. 806 (1975), this Court recognized a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to conduct his own defense. The Court also held that a trial court may appoint “standby counsel” to assist the pro se defendant in his defense. Today we must decide what role standby counsel who is present at trial over the defendant’s objection may play consistent with the protection of the defendant’s Faretta rights.

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Carl Edwin Wiggins was convicted of robbery and sentenced to life imprisonment as a recidivist. His conviction was set aside because of a defective indictment. When Wiggins was retried, he was again convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Standby counsel were appointed to assist Wiggins at both trials. Wiggins now challenges counsel’s participation in his second trial.

Prior to the first trial, a hearing was held on Wiggins’ motion to proceed pro se. The court granted the motion, Record 4a, but simultaneously appointed two attorneys to act as standby counsel. Wiggins initially objected to their presence. Id. at 11a. Shortly thereafter, however, counsel asked Wiggins how they should conduct themselves at trial, and Wiggins expressly requested that they bring appropriate objections directly to the attention of the court, without first consulting him. Id. at 37a. After the trial, newly appointed counsel discovered that the original indictment was defective, and a new trial was granted.

On April

Criminal Procedure, Partial concurrence, partial dissent

McFarland v. Scott

Criminal Procedure, Partial concurrence, partial dissent / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part.

I agree with the Court’s conclusion that 21 U. s. C. § 848 entitles capital defendants pursuing federal habeas corpus relief to a properly trained attorney. I also agree that this right includes legal assistance in preparing a habeas petition. Thus, the Court correctly holds that a defendant need not file a habeas petition to invoke the right to counsel. Ante, at 856-857. I write separately, however, because I disagree with the Court’s conclusion that 28 U. s. C. § 2251 allows a district court to stay an execution pending counsel’s prepara tion of an application for a writ of habeas corpus. Ante, at 857-858.

As the Court explains, § 848(q) must be read to apply prior to the filing of a habeas petition. It is almost meaningless to provide a lawyer to pursue claims on federal habeas if the lawyer is not available to help prepare the petition. First, the habeas petition, unlike a complaint, must allege the factual underpinning of the petitioner’s claims. See Habeas Corpus Rule 2(c) (“The petition… shall specify all the grounds for relief which are available to the petitioner… and shall set forth in summary form the facts supporting each of the grounds thus specified”). Furthermore, district courts are authorized to summarily dismiss petitions which appear on their face to be meritless. See Habeas Corpus Rule 4. And our carefully crafted doctrines of waiver and abuse of the writ make it especially

Byron White, Criminal Procedure, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist

McElroy v. United States

Byron White, Criminal Procedure, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

The petitioner was convicted of two counts of transporting a forged security in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314. He challenges his conviction on the ground that the statute requires proof, concededly lacking at trial, that the securities had been forged before being taken across state lines. Because of a conflict among the Circuits on this issue of statutory construction, we granted certiorari. 454 U.S. 815 (1981). For the reasons stated below, we affirm the petitioner’s conviction.

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Petitioner Charles McElroy was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts. Counts 1 and 3 charged that, on two occasions, the petitioner transported in interstate commerce falsely made and forged securities from Ohio to Pennsylvania in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314, the National Stolen Property Act. [ Footnote 1 ] Count 2 charged McElroy with transporting a stolen car in interstate commerce from Pennsylvania to Ohio in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2312. [ Footnote 2 ]

According to the proof at trial, several blank checks [ Footnote 3 ] were stolen from Local 126 of the Laborers’ International Union in Youngstown, Ohio, in late March or early April, 1977. After the Union discovered the theft, it closed the account on which the checks were drawn. Seventeen months later, in October, 1978, the petitioner ordered a used Corvette from the Don Allen Chevrolet Agency in Pittsburgh, Pa., for $6,706. Using the name “William Jones,”

Anthony Kennedy, Byron White, First Amendment, Majority, William Rehnquist

Massachusetts v. Oakes

Anthony Kennedy, Byron White, First Amendment, Majority, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in which THE CHIEF JUSTICE, JUSTICE WHITE, and JUSTICE KENNEDY join.

This case involves an overbreadth challenge to a Massachusetts criminal statute generally prohibiting adults from posing or exhibiting nude minors for purposes of visual representation or reproduction in any book, magazine, pamphlet, motion picture, photograph, or picture.

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The statute at issue in this case, Mass.Gen.Laws § 272:29A (1986), was enacted in 1982. [ Footnote 1 ] It provides as follows:

Whoever with knowledge that a person is a child under eighteen years of age, or whoever while in possession of such facts that he should have reason to know that such person is a child under eighteen years of age, hires, coerces, solicits or entices, employs, procures, uses, causes, encourages, or knowingly permits such child to pose or be exhibited in a state of nudity or to participate or engage in any live performance or in any act that depicts, describes or represents sexual conduct for purpose of visual representation or reproduction in any book, magazine, pamphlet, motion picture film, photograph, or picture shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not less than ten nor more than twenty years, or by a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars nor more than fifty thousand dollars, or by both such a fine and imprisonment. It shall be a defense in any prosecution pursuant to this section that such visual

Byron White, Economic Activity, Harry Blackmun, Majority, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist

Offshore Logistics Inc. v. Tallentire

Byron White, Economic Activity, Harry Blackmun, Majority, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

Respondents’ husbands were killed when petitioner Air Logistic’s helicopter, in which the decedents were traveling, crashed into the high seas. The issue presented is whether the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), 41 Stat. 537, 46 U.S.C. § 761 et seq., provides the exclusive remedy by which respondents may recover against petitioner for the wrongful death of their husbands, or whether they may also recover the measure of damages provided by the Louisiana wrongful death statute, La.Civ.Code Ann., Art. 2315 (West Supp.1986), applying either of its own force or as surrogate federal law under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), 67 Stat. 462, as amended, 43 U.S.C. § 1331 et seq.

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The husbands of respondents Corrine Taylor and Beth Tallentire worked on drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. On August 6, 1980, respondents’ husbands were killed while being transported in a helicopter owned and operated by petitioner Air Logistics (hereafter petitioner), a Division of Offshore Logistics, Inc., from a drilling platform to Houma, Louisiana. The crash occurred approximately 35 miles off the coast of Louisiana, well over the 3-mile limit that separates Louisiana’s territorial waters from the high seas for purposes of DOHSA.

Respondents each filed wrongful death suits in United States District Court, raising claims under DOHSA, OCSLA, and the law of Louisiana. These actions were later consolidated

Dissent, Harry Blackmun, Judicial Power

Northeastern Fla. Chapter Associated Gen. Contractors of America v. Jacksonville

Dissent, Harry Blackmun, Judicial Power / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom JUSTICE BLACKMUN joins, dissenting.

When a challenged statute expires or is repealed or significantly amended pending review, and the only relief sought is prospective, the Court’s practice has been to dismiss the case as moot. Today the Court abandons that practice, relying solely on our decision in City of Mesquite v. Aladdin’s Castle, Inc., 455 U. S. 283 (1982). See ante, at 661-663. I believe this case more closely resembles those cases in which we have found mootness than it does City of Mesquite. Accordingly, I would not reach the standing question decided by the majority.

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Earlier this Term, the Court reaffirmed the longstanding rule that a case must be dismissed as moot “if an event occurs [pending review] that makes it impossible for the court to grant ‘any effectual relief whatever’ to a prevailing party.” CONTRACTORS OF AMERICA v. JACKSONVILLE

Church of Scientology of Cal. v. United States, 506 U. S. 9, 12 (1992) (quoting Mills v. Green, 159 U. S. 651, 653 (1895)). That principle applies to challenges to legislation that has expired or has been repealed, where the plaintiff has sought only prospective relief. If the challenged statute no longer exists, there ordinarily can be no real controversy as to its continuing validity, and an order enjoining its enforcement would be meaningless. In such circumstances, it is well settled that the case should be dismissed as moot. See, e. g., New Orleans Flour Inspectors v. Glover, 160 U. S.

Concurrence, Economic Activity

Northeast Bancorp Inc. v. Governors FRS

Concurrence, Economic Activity / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, concurring.

I agree that the state banking statutes at issue here do not violate the Commerce Clause, the Compact Clause, or the Equal Protection Clause. I write separately to note that I see no meaningful distinction for Equal Protection Clause purposes between the Massachusetts and Connecticut statutes we uphold today and the Alabama statute at issue in Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Ward, 470 U. S. 869 (1985).

The Court distinguishes this case from Metropolitan Life on the ground that Massachusetts and Connecticut favor neighboring out-of-state banks over all other out-of-state banks. It is not clear to me why completely barring the banks of 44 States from doing business is less discriminatory than Alabama’s scheme of taxing the insurance companies from 49 States at a slightly higher rate. Nor is it clear why the Equal Protection Clause should tolerate a regional “home team” when it condemns a state “home team.” See id. at 878.

The Court emphasizes that here we do not write on a clean slate, as the business of banking is “of profound local concern.” Ante at 472 U. S. 177. The business of insurance is also of uniquely local concern. Prudential Insurance Co. v. Benjamin, 328 U. S. 408, 328 U. S. 415 -417 (146). Both industries historically have been regulated by the States in recognition of the critical part they play in securing the financial wellbeing of local citizens and businesses. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Ward, supra, at 470 U. S. 888

Byron White, Federalism, Harry Blackmun, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist

Nantahala P. & L. v. Thornburg

Byron White, Federalism, Harry Blackmun, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Nantahala Power & Light Company (Nantahala) and Tapoco, Inc. (Tapoco), are both wholly owned subsidiaries of the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa). Tapoco and Nantahala each own hydroelectric powerplants on the Little Tennessee River. Almost all of the power that they produce goes to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). In exchange for allowing TVA to pour into its grid the variable quantity of power produced by Tapoco’s and Nantahala’s facilities, Tapoco and Nantahala jointly receive a fixed supply of low-cost “entitlement power” from TVA. In addition, Nantahala buys a variable amount of high-cost “purchased power” from the TVA grid. Tapoco sells all its power to Alcoa; Nantahala serves public customers.

For the purposes of calculating the rate to be charged Nantahala’s retail customers, all of whom are in North Carolina, the Utilities Commission of North Carolina (NCUC) chose an allocation of entitlement and purchased power between Tapoco and Nantahala that differs from the allocation of entitlement power between Tapoco and Nantahala adopted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in a wholesale ratemaking proceeding. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld NCUC’s allocation. We noted probable jurisdiction to decide whether NCUC’s allocation may stand in light of FERC’s ruling. 474 U.S. 1018 (1985). We hold that NCUC’s allocation of entitlement and purchased power is preempted by federal law.

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This

Economic Activity, Partial concurrence, partial dissent, William Rehnquist

Monessen v. Southwestern R. Co. v. Morgan

Economic Activity, Partial concurrence, partial dissent, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE joins, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

For the reasons given by the Court, I agree that prejudgment interest was impermissibly awarded in this FELA case. Accordingly, I join Parts I and II of its opinion. Because the trial court erroneously gave conclusive effect to a state rule requiring the use of a “total offset” method of calculating present value, I also agree that we must reverse the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upholding that decision. I do not agree, however, that juries must in all circumstances be left free to choose among the total offset rule and alternative methods of accounting for anticipated future inflation.

The majority correctly notes that damages awards in state court FELA cases must be based on an approximation of present value, and that the jury must be instructed accordingly. Ante at 486 U. S. 339 -340.

Although… [it is] clear that no single method for determining present value is mandated by federal law, and that the method of calculating present value should take into account inflation and other sources of wage increases as well as the rate of interest, it is equally clear that an utter failure to instruct the jury that present value is the proper measure of a damages award is error.

St. Louis Southwestern R. Co. v. Dickerson, 470 U. S. 409, 470 U. S. 412 (1985). The reason for this rule is plain: because of the time value of money and the practice of awarding damages in

Concurrence, First Amendment, Stephen Breyer, Timeline

Mitchell v. Helms

Concurrence, First Amendment, Stephen Breyer, Timeline / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom JUSTICE BREYER joins, concurring in the judgment.

In 1965, Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 79 Stat. 27 (1965 Act). Under Title I, Congress provided monetary grants to States to address the needs of educationally deprived children of low-income families. Under Title II, Congress provided further monetary grants to States for the acquisition of library resources, textbooks, and other instructional materials for use by children and teachers in public and private elementary and secondary schools. Since 1965, Congress has reauthorized the Title I and Title II programs several times. Three Terms ago, we held in Agostini v. Felton, 521 U. S. 203 (1997), that Title I, as applied in New York City, did not violate the Establishment Clause. I believe that Agostini likewise controls the constitutional inquiry respecting Title II presented here, and requires the reversal of the Court of Appeals’ judgment that the program is unconstitutional as applied in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. To the extent our decisions in Meek v. Pit tenger, 421 U. S. 349 (1975), and Wolman v. Walter, 433 U. S. 229 (1977), are inconsistent with the Court’s judgment today, I agree that those decisions should be overruled. I therefore concur in the judgment.

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I write separately because, in my view, the plurality announces a rule of unprecedented breadth for the evaluation of Establishment Clause challenges to government school aid programs. Reduced to its essentials