2008 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States

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.^[1]

Because per curiam decisions are issued from the Court as an institution, these opinions all lack the attribution of authorship or joining votes to specific justices. All justices on the Court at the time the decision was handed down are assumed to have participated and concurred unless otherwise noted.

Court membership

Chief Justice: John Roberts

Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito

Moore v. United States

Full caption:	James Eric Moore v. United States
Citations:	555 U.S. 1
Prior history:	Defendant convicted, sentenced, N.D. Ia.; aff'd, 470 F. 3d 767 (8th Cir. 2006); vacated and remanded, 552 U.S. 1090 (2008); aff'd, 518 F. 3d 577 (2008)
Laws applied:	18 U.S.C. § 3553
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 1
Decided October 14, 2008.
Eighth Circuit reversed and remanded.

Brunner v. Ohio Republican Party

Full caption:	Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State v. Ohio Republican Party, et al.
Citations:	555 U.S. 5
Prior history:	TRO granted, S.D. Ohio, Oct. 9, 2008; motion to vacate denied, 6th Cir. (en banc)
Laws applied:	42 U.S.C. § 15483(a)(5)(B)(i) (Help America Vote Act of 2002 §303)
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 5
Decided October 14, 2008.
In 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) into law. One provision of HAVA required the officials who maintain each state's voter registration database to work with the officials who maintain each state's driver's license database to help verify the accuracy of each list. The Ohio Republican Party, which believed that then-Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner was not complying with the law by not working with Ohio Department of Transportation officials, sued to force her compliance.

The District Court entered a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) ordering Brunner to begin compliance immediately. Brunner appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which declined to vacate the TRO, thus continuing to force her compliance. Brunner once again appealed to the Supreme Court, which granted her application to vacate the TRO, and in a per curiam opinion held that while they express no opinion regarding whether Brunner was properly implementing HAVA, Congress did not give the District Court the authority to issue a TRO in this matter.

Hedgpeth v. Pulido

Full caption:	Anthony Hedgpeth, Warden, v. Michael Robert Pulido
Citations:	555 U.S. 57
Prior history:	Defendant's conviction upheld, sub. nom., People v. Pulido, 936 P.2d 1235 (Cal. 1997); petition granted, sub nom., Pulido v. Lamarque, No. 99–4933, (N.D. Cal. Mar. 24, 2005); aff'd, sub nom., Pulido v. Chrones, 487 F.3d 669 (9th Cir. 2007), cert. granted, 552 U.S. 1230 (2008)
Laws applied:	U.S. Const. amend. XIV
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 57
Decided December 2, 2008.
Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded.

Stevens filed a dissent, joined by Souter and Ginsburg.

Spears v. United States

Full caption:	Steven Spears v. United States
Citations:	555 U.S. 261
Prior history:	Defendant convicted, sentenced; sentencing reversed, remanded, 469 F.3d 1166 (8th Circuit 2006); vacated, remanded, 552 U.S. 1090 (2008); reversed, remanded, 533 F.3d 715 (8th Cir. 2008)
Laws applied:	18 U.S.C. § 3553
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 261
Decided January 21, 2009.
Eighth Circuit reversed and remanded.

Kennedy noted without separate opinion that he would grant the petition for a writ of certiorari and set the case for oral argument. Thomas dissented without separate opinion. Roberts filed a dissent, joined by Alito.

Nelson v. United States

Full caption:	Lawrence W. Nelson, aka Zikee v. United States
Citations:	555 U.S. 350
Prior history:	Conviction and sentencing affirmed, 237 Fed. Appx. 819 (4th Cir. 2007); vacated, remanded, 552 U.S. 1163 (2008); sentence affirmed, 276 Fed. Appx. 331 (4th Cir. 2008)
Laws applied:	18 U.S.C. § 3553
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

555 U.S. 350
Decided January 26, 2009.
Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded.

Breyer filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by Alito.

CSX Transp., Inc. v. Hensley

Full caption:	CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Thurston Hensley
Citations:	556 U.S. 838
Prior history:	Judgment for plaintiff; aff'd, 278 S.W. 3d 282 (Tenn. 2008)
Laws applied:	45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. (Federal Employers' Liability Act)
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion  · Findlaw  · Justia

556 U.S. 838
Decided June 1, 2009.
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Eastern Division, reversed and remanded.

Stevens and Ginsburg filed dissents.

Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler LLC

Main article: Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler LLC

Full caption:	Indiana State Police Pension Trust, et al. v. Chrysler LLC, et al.
Citations:	556 U.S. 960
Prior history:	Restructuring plan approved, Bankr. S.D.N.Y., May 31, 2009; aff'd, 2d Cir., June 5, 2009; temporary stay granted, June 8, 2009 (Ginsburg, J.)
Full text of the opinion:	official slip opinion

556 U.S. 960
Decided June 9, 2009.
Application for stay denied.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 555
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 556