Civil Rights, Dissent

Bowen v. American Hosp. Ass’n

Civil Rights, Dissent / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, dissenting.

I fully agree with JUSTICE WHITE’s conclusion that the only question properly before us is whether the Court of Appeals correctly concluded that the Secretary has no power under 29 U.S.C. § 794 to regulate medical treatment decisions concerning handicapped newborn infants. I also agree that application of established principles of statutory construction and of the appropriate standard for judicial review of agency action leads inescapably to the conclusion that the Secretary has the authority to regulate in this area. Because, however, I see no need at this juncture to address the details of the regulations or to assess whether they are sufficiently rational to survive review under 5 U.S.C. § 706 (2)(A), I join only parts 476 U. S. 476 U. S. 476 U. S. and 476 U. S.

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Byron White, Federalism, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan, William Rehnquist

Bonito Boats v. Thunder Craft Boats

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Byron White, Federalism, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

We must decide today what limits the operation of the federal patent system places on the States’ ability to offer substantial protection to utilitarian and design ideas which the patent laws leave otherwise unprotected. In Interpart Corp. v. Italia, 777 F.2d 678 (1985), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that a California law prohibiting the use of the “direct molding process” to duplicate unpatented articles posed no threat to the policies behind the federal patent laws. In this case, the Florida Supreme Court came to a contrary conclusion. It struck down a Florida statute which prohibits the use of the direct molding process to duplicate unpatented boat hulls, finding that the protection offered by the Florida law conflicted with the balance struck by Congress in the federal patent statute between the encouragement of invention and free competition in unpatented ideas. See 515 So.2d 220 (1987). We granted certiorari to resolve the conflict, 486 U.S. 1004 (1988), and we now affirm the judgment of the Florida Supreme Court.

I

In September, 1976, petitioner Bonito Boats, Inc. (Bonito), a Florida corporation, developed a hull design for a fiberglass recreational boat which it marketed under the trade name Bonito Boat Model 5VBR. App. 5. Designing the boat hull required substantial effort on the part of Bonito. A set of engineering drawings was prepared, from which a hardwood model was created. The hardwood

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Byron White, Civil Rights, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan, William Rehnquist

Clark v. Jeter

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Byron White, Civil Rights, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

Under Pennsylvania law, an illegitimate child must prove paternity before seeking support from his or her father, and a suit to establish paternity ordinarily must be brought within six years of an illegitimate child’s birth. By contrast, a legitimate child may seek support from his or her parents at any time. We granted certiorari to consider the constitutionality of this legislative scheme.

I

On September 22, 1983, petitioner Cherlyn Clark filed a support complaint in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of her minor daughter, Tiffany, who was born out of wedlock on June 11, 1973. Clark named respondent Gene Jeter as Tiffany’s father. The court ordered blood tests, which showed a 99.3% probability that Jeter is Tiffany’s father.

Jeter moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that it was barred by the 6-year statute of limitations for paternity actions. * In her response, Clark contended that this statute is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. In the alternative, she argued that the statute was tolled by fraudulent and misleading actions of the welfare department, or by threats and assaults by Jeter.

The trial court upheld the statute of limitations on the authority of Astemborski v. Susmarski, 499 Pa. 99, 451 A.2d 1012 (1982), vacated, 462 U.S. 1127 (1983), reinstated on remand, 502 Pa. 409, 466 A.2d 1018 (1983). The Pennsylvania Supreme

Antonin Scalia, Byron White, Civil Rights, Majority, William Rehnquist

City of St. Louis v. Praprotnik

Antonin Scalia, Byron White, Civil Rights, 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 SCALIA join.

This case calls upon us to define the proper legal standard for determining when isolated decisions by municipal officials or employees may expose the municipality itself to liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

I

The principal facts are not in dispute. Respondent James H. Praprotnik is an architect who began working for petitioner city of St. Louis in 1968. For several years, respondent consistently received favorable evaluations of his job performance, uncommonly quick promotions, and significant increases in salary. By 1980, he was serving in a management-level city planning position at petitioner’s Community Development Agency (CDA).

The Director of CDA, Donald Spaid, had instituted a requirement that the agency’s professional employees, including architects, obtain advance approval before taking on private clients. Respondent and other CDA employees objected to the requirement. In April, 1980, respondent was suspended for 15 days by CDA’s Director of Urban Design, Charles Kindleberger, for having accepted outside employment without prior approval. Respondent appealed to the city’s Civil Service Commission, a body charged with reviewing employee grievances. Finding the penalty too harsh, the Commission reversed the suspension, awarded respondent backpay, and directed that he be reprimanded for having failed to secure a clear understandi

Byron White, Civil Rights, Dissent, Lewis Powell, William Rehnquist

City of Springfield v. Kibbe

Byron White, Civil Rights, Dissent, Lewis Powell, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE, JUSTICE WHITE, and JUSTICE POWELL join, dissenting.

We granted certiorari in this case to resolve whether a city can be held liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for providing inadequate police training, and, if so, what standard should govern the imposition of such liability. 475 U.S. 1064 (1986). In my view, the question is properly before the Court, and I would decide it on the merits.

I

On the evening of September 28, 1981, the Springfield Police Department received a telephone call reporting that someone had called an apartment’s occupants and threatened to come after them with a knife. Later calls reported that an individual identified as Clinton Thurston had broken the apartment door and assaulted a woman staying at the apartment. When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered that Thurston had abducted the woman and driven away in his car. A short while later, Thurston’s vehicle was spotted by an officer driving an unmarked police car. When Thurston stopped at an intersection, the officer walked up to Thurston’s vehicle and identified himself as a police officer, but Thurston drove away.

The officer gave chase, and soon was joined by other members of the Springfield Police Department. Two officers set up a roadblock to stop Thurston, but he drove past the obstacle without stopping. As he did so, one of the officers fired at the tires of Thurston’s vehicle; later a nick was found in the left rear wheel. At a second roadblock,

Concurrence, First Amendment

City of Ladue v. Gilleo

Concurrence, First Amendment / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, concurring.

It is unusual for us, when faced with a regulation that on its face draws content distinctions, to “assume, arguendo, the validity of the City’s submission that the various exemptions are free of impermissible content or viewpoint discrimination.” Ante, at 53. With rare exceptions, content discrimination in regulations of the speech of private citizens on private property or in a traditional public forum is presumptively impermissible, and this presumption is a very strong one. Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of N. Y. State Crime Victims Bd., 502 U. S. 105, 115-116 (1991). The normal inquiry that our doctrine dictates is, first, to determine whether a regulation is content based or content neutral, and then, based on the answer to that question, to apply the proper level of scrutiny. See, e. g., Burson v. Freeman, 504 U. S. 191, 197-198 (1992) (plurality opinion); Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement, 505 U. S. 123, 133-135 (1992); Simon & Schuster, supra, at 115-116; Boos v. Barry, 485 U. S. 312, 318-321 (1988) (plurality opinion); Arkansas Writers’ Project, Inc. v. Ragland, 481 U. S. 221, 229-231 (1987); Carey v. Brown, 447 U. S. 455, 461-463 (1980); Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U. S. 92, 95, 98-99 (1972).

Over the years, some cogent criticisms have been leveled at our approach. See, e. g., R. A. v: v. St. Paul, 505 U. S. 377, 420-422 (1992) (STEVENS, J., concurring in judgment); Consolidated Edison Co. of N. Y. v. Public Servo

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Civil Rights, Partial concurrence, partial dissent

City of Canton Ohio v. Harris

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Civil Rights, Partial concurrence, partial dissent / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom JUSTICE SCALIA and JUSTICE KENNEDY join, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I join Parts I and II and all of Part III of the Court’s opinion except footnote 11, see ante at 489 U. S. 390, n. 11. I thus agree that, where municipal policymakers are confronted with an obvious need to train city personnel to avoid the violation of constitutional rights and they are deliberately indifferent to that need, the lack of necessary training may be appropriately considered a city “policy” subjecting the city itself to liability under our decision in Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U. S. 658 (1978). As the Court observes,

[o]nly where a failure to train reflects a ‘deliberate’ or ‘conscious’ choice by a municipality -a ‘policy’ as defined by our prior cases -can a city be liable for such a failure under [42 U.S.C.] § 1983.

Ante at 489 U. S. 389. I further agree that a § 1983 plaintiff pressing a “failure to train” claim must prove that the lack of training was the “cause” of the constitutional injury at issue, and that this entails more than simply showing “but for” causation. Ante at 489 U. S. 392. Lesser requirements of fault and causation in this context would “open municipalities to unprecedented liability under § 1983,” ante at 489 U. S. 391, and would pose serious federalism concerns. Ante at 489 U. S. 392.

My single point of disagreement with the majority is thus a small one. Because I believe, as the majority strongly

Civil Rights, David Souter, Dissent

Chickasaw Nation v. United States

Civil Rights, David Souter, Dissent / By

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

The Court today holds that 25 U. S. C. § 2719(d) (1994 ed.) clearly and unambiguously fails to give Indian Nations (Nations) the exemption from federal wagering excise and related occupational taxes enjoyed by the States. Because I believe § 2719(d) is subject to more than one interpretation, and because “statutes are to be construed liberally in favor of the Indians, with ambiguous provisions interpreted to their benefit,” Montana v. Blackfeet Tribe, 471 U. S. 759, 766 (1985), I respectfully dissent.

I

I agree with the Court that § 2719(d) incorporates an error in drafting. I disagree, however, that the section’s reference to chapter 35 is necessarily that error.

As originally proposed in the Senate, the bill that became the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) would have applied all gambling and wagering-related sections of the Internal Revenue Code to the Nations in the same manner as the States:”Provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, concerning the taxation and the reporting and withholding of taxes with respect to gambling or wagering operations shall apply to Indian gaming operations conducted pursuant to this Act the same as they apply to State operations.” S. 555, 100th Cong., 1st Sess., 37 (1987).

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee altered the language of this bill in two contradictory ways. It restricted the applicable Code sections to those relating to the “reporting and withholding of taxes

Concurrence, Due Process, Stephen Breyer

Chicago v. Morales

Concurrence, Due Process, Stephen Breyer / By

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

I agree with the Court that Chicago’s Gang Congregation Ordinance, Chicago Municipal Code § 8-4-015 (1992) (gang loitering ordinance or ordinance) is unconstitutionally vague. A penal law is void for vagueness if it fails to “define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited” or fails to establish guidelines to prevent “arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement” of the law. Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U. S. 352, 357 (1983). Of these, “the more important aspect of the vagueness doctrine ‘is… the requirement that a legislature establish minimal guidelines to govern law enforcement.”’ Id., at 358 (quoting Smith v. Goguen, 415 U. S. 566, 574-575 (1974)). I share JUSTICE THOMAS’ concern about the consequences of gang violence, and I agree that some degree of police discretion is necessary to allow the police “to perform their peacekeeping responsibilities satisfactorily.” Post, at 109 (dissenting opinion). A criminal law, however, must not permit policemen, prosecutors, and juries to conduct “‘a standardless sweep… to pursue their personal predilections.”’ Kolender v. Lawson, supra, at 358 (quoting Smith v. Goguen, supra, at 575).

The ordinance at issue provides:”Whenever a police officer observes a person whom he reasonably believes to be a criminal street gang member loitering in any public place with one or

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, David Souter, Judicial Power, Majority, Stephen Breyer, William Rehnquist

Chicago v. International College of Surgeons

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, David Souter, Judicial Power, Majority, Stephen Breyer, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court. The city of Chicago, like municipalities throughout the country, has an ordinance that provides for the designation and protection of historical landmarks. Chicago Municipal Code, Art. XVII, §§2-120-580 through 2-120-920 (1990). The city’s Landmarks Ordinance is administered by the Commission on Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks (Chicago Landmarks Commission or Commission). Pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Review Law, Ill. Compo Stat., ch. 735, §§ 5/3-103,5/3-104 (Supp. 1997), judicial review of final decisions of a municipal landmarks commission lies in state circuit court. In this case, we are asked to consider whether a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County seeking judicial review of decisions of the Chicago Landmarks Commission may be removed to federal district court, where the case contains both federal constitutional and state administrative challenges to the Commission’s decisions.

I

Respondents International College of Surgeons and the United States Section of the International College of Surgeons (jointly ICS) own two properties on North Lake Shore Drive in the city of Chicago. In July 1988, the Chicago Landmarks Commission made a preliminary determination that seven buildings on Lake Shore Drive, including two

*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the State of Indiana by Jeffrey A. Modisett, Attorney General, and Geoffrey Slaughter and Anthony Scott Chinn, Deputy