Supreme Court Opinions

Byron White, Economic Activity, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist

Baltimore G. & E. Co. v. NRDC

Byron White, Economic Activity, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, Warren Burger, William Brennan, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 83 Stat. 853, 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C) (NEPA), requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impact of any major federal action. [ Footnote 1 ] As part of its generic rulemaking proceedings to evaluate the environmental effects of the nuclear fuel cycle for nuclear powerplants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Commission) [ Footnote 2 ] decided that licensing boards should assume, for purposes of NEPA, that the permanent storage of certain nuclear wastes would have no significant environmental impact, and thus should not affect the decision whether to license a particular nuclear powerplant. We conclude that the Commission complied with NEPA, and that its decision is not arbitrary or capricious within the meaning of § 10(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706. [ Footnote 3 ]

I

The environmental impact of operating a light-water nuclear powerplant [ Footnote 4 ]includes the effects of off-site activities necessary to provide fuel for the plant (“front end” activities), and of off-site activities necessary to dispose of the highly toxic and long-lived nuclear wastes generated by the plant (“back end” activities). The dispute in these cases concerns the Commission’s adoption of a series of generic rules to evaluate the environmental effects of a nuclear powerplant’s fuel cycle. At the heart of each rule is Table S-3, a numerical

Concurrence, Economic Activity

Bankers Life & Cas. Co. v. Crenshaw

Concurrence, Economic Activity / By

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

I do not agree with the Court’s analysis of our jurisdiction over appellant’s federal due process claim. I therefore do not join Part II or footnote 1 of the Court’s opinion. I join the remainder of the opinion, and I agree with the analysis of Part II insofar as claims under the Excessive Fines Clause and Contract Clause are concerned. Moreover, for the reasons given below, I ultimately concur in the Court’s judgment with respect to the due process claim as well.

In its brief on appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, appellant expressly invoked the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and argued that Mississippi law chilled its fundamental right of access to the courts by authorizing unlimited punitive damages. App. to Juris. Statement 135a. The Court does not acknowledge this argument in its discussion of why the due process claim was not raised and passed upon below, but only notes that appellant did not present a due process argument clearly in its petition for rehearing. Ante at 486 U. S. 77. The Court suggests that it need not consider the due process argument raised in appellant’s brief to the Mississippi Supreme Court because it is “distinct from the attack on the size of the particular award that appellant has waged before this Court.” Ante at 486 U. S. 75, n. 1. Standing alone, this observation is insufficient to deprive this Court of jurisdiction over

David Souter, Dissent, Privacy

Board of Ed. of Independent School Dist. No. 92 of Pottawatomie Cty. v. Earls

David Souter, Dissent, Privacy / By

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

I dissented in Vernonia School Dist. J,7J v. Acton, 515 U. S. 646 (1995), and continue to believe that case was wrongly decided. Because Vernonia is now this Court’s precedent, and because I agree that petitioners’ program fails even under the balancing approach adopted in that case, I join JUSTICE GINSBURG’S dissent.

Civil Rights, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan

Bearden v. Georgia

Civil Rights, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Majority, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question in this case is whether the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a State from revoking an indigent defendant’s probation for failure to pay a fine and restitution. Its resolution involves a delicate balance between the acceptability, and indeed wisdom, of considering all relevant factors when determining an appropriate sentence for an individual and the impermissibility of imprisoning a defendant solely because of his lack of financial resources. We conclude that the trial court erred in automatically revoking probation because petitioner could not pay his fine, without determining that petitioner had not made sufficient bona fide efforts to pay or that adequate alternative forms of punishment did not exist. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Georgia Court of Appeals upholding the revocation of probation, and remand for a new sentencing determination.

I

In September, 1980, petitioner was indicted for the felonies of burglary and theft by receiving stolen property. He pleaded guilty, and was sentenced on October 8, 1980. Pursuant to the Georgia First Offender’s Act, Ga.Code Ann. § 27-2727 et seq. (current version at § 42-8-60 et seq. (Supp.1982)), the trial court did not enter a judgment of guilt, but deferred further proceedings and sentenced petitioner to three years on probation for the burglary charge and a concurrent one year on probation for the theft charge. As a condition of probation, the trial court

Clarence Thomas, Economic Activity, Partial concurrence, partial dissent

Barclays Bank PLC v. Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal

Clarence Thomas, Economic Activity, Partial concurrence, partial dissent / By

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

I joined Justice Powell in dissent in Container Corp. of America v. Franchise Tax Bd., 463 U. S. 159 (1983), and I continue to think the Court erred in upholding California’s use of worldwide combined reporting in taxing the income of a domestic-based corporate group. But because the State and private parties have justifiably relied on the constitutionality of taxing such corporations, and Congress has not seen fit to override our decision, I agree with the Court that Container Corp. should not be overruled, cf. Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U. S. 298, 318-319 (1992), and that it resolves the constitutional challenge raised by ColgatePalmolive. I therefore concur in the judgment in No. 921839. Barclays Bank, on the other hand, is a foreign-based parent company of a multinational corporate group, and our holding in Container Corp. expressly does not extend to this situation. See 463 U. S., at 189, n. 26, and 195, n. 32. In my view, the California tax cannot constitutionally be applied to foreign corporations. I therefore respectfully dissent in No. 92-1384.

A state tax on interstate commerce must meet four requirements under our negative Commerce Clause precedents: the tax must be on an activity with a substantial nexus to the taxing State, it must be fairly apportioned, it must not discriminate against interstate commerce, and it must be fairly related to the services

Antonin Scalia, Dissent, Due Process, William Rehnquist

Board of Pardons v. Allen

Antonin Scalia, Dissent, Due Process, William Rehnquist / By

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

Relying on semantics and ignoring altogether the sweeping discretion granted to the Board of Pardons by Montana law, the Court today concludes that respondents had a legitimate expectation of parole sufficient to give rise to an interest protected by procedural due process. Because I conclude that the discretion accorded the Board of Pardons belies any reasonable claim of entitlement to parole, I respectfully dissent.

In Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U. S. 564 (1972), this Court observed that, to have a protected interest, one

clearly must have more than an abstract need or desire for it. He must have more than a unilateral expectation of it. He must, instead, have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it.

Id. at 408 U. S. 577. Applying these principles, the Roth Court found that a teacher had no property interest in a renewal of his 1-year contract despite the fact that most teachers hired on a year-to-year basis by the university were rehired. Id. at 408 U. S. 578, n. 16. The Court concluded that the teacher had no legitimate entitlement to continued employment because the discretion of the university officials to renew or not renew such a contract was subject to no “cause” limitations.

The Roth decision teaches that a mere expectation of a benefit -even if that expectation is supported by consistent government practice -is not sufficient to create an interest protected by procedural due

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Civil Rights, Clarence Thomas, Majority, William Rehnquist

Board of Comm’rs of Bryan Cty. v. Brown

Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Civil Rights, Clarence Thomas, Majority, William Rehnquist / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court. Respondent Jill Brown brought a claim for damages against petitioner Bryan County under Rev. Stat. § 1979, 42 U. S. C. § 1983. She alleged that a county police officer used

*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the City of New York by Paul A. Crotty, Leonard J. Koerner, and John Hogrogian; for the National Association of Counties et al. by Richard Ruda, James I. Crowley, and Donald B. Ayer; and for the Washington Legal Foundation et al. by Daniel J. Popeo and Richard A. Samp.

Ogden N. Lewis, James D. Liss, Vincent T. Chang, Michele S. Warman, and Martha Davis filed a brief for the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance. excessive force in arresting her, and that the county itself was liable for her injuries based on its sheriff’s hiring and training decisions. She prevailed on her claims against the county following a jury trial, and the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment against the county on the basis of the hiring claim alone. 67 F.3d 1174 (1995). We granted certiorari. We conclude that the Court of Appeals’ decision cannot be squared with our recognition that, in enacting § 1983, Congress did not intend to impose liability on a municipality unless deliberate action attributable to the municipality itself is the “moving force” behind the plaintiff’s deprivation of federal rights. Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U. S. 658,

Concurrence, First Amendment

Bowen v. Kendrick

Concurrence, First Amendment / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, concurring.

This case raises somewhat unusual questions involving a facially valid statute that appears to have been administered in a way that led to violations of the Establishment Clause. I agree with the Court’s resolution of those questions, and I join its opinion. I write separately, however, to explain why I do not believe that the Court’s approach reflects any tolerance for the kind of improper administration that seems to have occurred in the Government program at issue here.

The dissent says, and I fully agree, that “[p]ublic funds may not be used to advance the religious message.” Post at 487 U. S. 642. As the Court notes, “there is no dispute that the record contains evidence of specific incidents of impermissible behavior by AFLA grantees.” Ante at 487 U. S. 620. Because the District Court employed an analytical framework that did not require a detailed discussion of the voluminous record, the extent of this impermissible behavior and the degree to which it is attributable to poor administration by the Executive Branch is somewhat less clear. In this circumstance, two points deserve to be emphasized. First, any use of public funds to promote religious doctrines violates the Establishment Clause. Second, extensive violations -if they can be proved in this case -will be highly relevant in shaping an appropriate remedy that ends such abuses. For that reason, appellees may yet prevail on remand, and I do not believe that the Court’s approach entails

Civil Rights, Partial concurrence, partial dissent

Bragdon v. Abbott

Civil Rights, Partial concurrence, partial dissent / By

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

I agree with THE CHIEF JUSTICE that respondent’s claim of disability should be evaluated on an individualized basis and that she has not proved that her asymptomatic HIV status substantially limited one or more of her major life activities. In my view, the act of giving birth to a child, while a very important part of the lives of many women, is not generally the same as the representative major life activities of all persons-“caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working”-listed in regulations relevant to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. See 45 CFR § 84.3(j)(2)(ii) (1997); 28 CFR § 41.31(b)(2) (1997). Based on that conclusion, there is no need to address whether other aspects of intimate or family relationships not raised in this case could constitute major life activities; nor is there reason to consider whether HIV status would impose a substantiallimitation on one’s ability to reproduce if reproduction were a major life activity.

I join in Part II of THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part, which concludes that the Court of Appeals failed to properly determine whether respondent’s condition posed a direct threat. Accordingly, I agree that a remand is necessary on that issue.

First Amendment, Partial concurrence, partial dissent, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan

Bowen v. Roy

First Amendment, Partial concurrence, partial dissent, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan / By

JUSTICE O’CONNOR, with whom JUSTICE BRENNAN and JUSTICE MARSHALL join, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I join Parts I and II of THE CHIEF JUSTICE’s opinion, and I would vacate only a portion of the injunction issued by the District Court.

I

I believe that appellees cannot pursue their free exercise claim based solely on the actions of the Government with respect to the use of a Social Security number already in its possession, or with respect to any other identification number the Government may wish to assign and use in connection with its administration of its welfare assistance program. Accordingly, I join Parts 476 U. S. S. 699|>II of THE CHIEF JUSTICE’s opinion, and I would vacate that portion of the District Court’s judgment that enjoins the Government from using or disseminating the Social Security number already assigned to Little Bird of the Snow.

In all, eight Members of the Court believe that the District Court’s injunction was overbroad in preventing the Government from using information already in its possession. See ante at 476 U. S. 699 -701 (opinion of BURGER, C.J., joined by POWELL and REHNQUIST, JJ.); ante at 476 U. S. 716 -717 (STEVENS, J., concurring in part and concurring in the result); ante at 476 U. S. 713 (BLACKMUN, J., concurring in part); supra, this page.

A logical next step on the facts of this case is to consider whether the case is moot. Only two Members of the Court believe that the case is, or may be, moot. See ante at 476 U. S.