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Details on today’s opinions

This morning the Court issued opinions in two argued cases.

Justice Scalia announced the first opinion of the day, in Freeman v. Quicken Loans. The Court unanimously affirmed the decision of the Fifth Circuit.  It held that to establish a violation of 12 U.S.C. § 2607(b) – which provides that “[n]o person shall give and no person shall accept any portion, split, or percentage of any charge made or received for the rendering of a real estate settlement service . . . other than for services actually performed” – a plaintiff must demonstrate that a charge for settlement services was divided between two or more persons. [Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C. serves as counsel to the petitioners in this case.]

The Chief Justice announced the second and final opinion of the day, in Blueford v. Arkansas.  By a vote of six to three, the Court affirmed the decision of the Supreme Court of Arkansas.  It held that the Double Jeopardy Clause does not bar the state from retrying Blueford on charges of capital murder and first-degree murder after the jury in Blueford’s original trial told the trial court that it had voted unanimously against those charges but was deadlocked on the manslaughter charge against him and eventually failed to reach a verdict, causing the court to declare a mistrial.  Justice Sotomayor filed a dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justices Ginsburg and Kagan

Recommended Citation: Kali Borkoski, Details on today’s opinions, SCOTUSblog (May. 24, 2012, 12:54 PM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2012/05/details-on-todays-opinions-19/