Opinions from this week

In case you haven’t followed our morning live blogs, here are summaries of and links to the slip opinions released this week. The Court’s final session will be next Monday, at which the three outstanding opinions will be released.

Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, et al.  (07-984/07-990) : The decision below is reversed and remanded in a 6-3 opinion by Justice Kennedy. Justice Ginsburg filed a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Stevens and Souter. Justice Breyer and Justice Scalia filed concurring opinions. The Court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the authority to issue permits for dumping dredge or fill dirt into a waterway, without satisfying all of the pollution limits that are enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The opinion is available here. 

Forest Grove School District v. T. A. (08-305): The decision below is affirmed in a 6-3 opinion by Justice Stevens. Justice Souter filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Scalia and Thomas. The Court held that parents of a disabled child, who decide on their own to transfer the child to a private school, are entitled to tuition reimbursement from the local school district even if the child had never received any special education aid previously. The opinion is available here.

Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Eric Holder, Jr, Attorney General, et al. (08-322): The decision below is reversed and remanded in an 8-1 opinion by Chief Justice Roberts. Justice Thomas filed a partial dissent. The Court did not strike down the Voting Rights Act, but held that all local units of government must be given the option to bail out of the requirement that they get federal approval for any changes in their election laws or methods. The opinion is available here.

Horne v. Flores; Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives v. Flores (08-289 and 08-294): The decision below is reversed and remanded in a 5-4 opinion by Justice Alito. Justice Breyer filed a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, and Ginsburg. The federal court must reexamine whether the Arizona school district has taken “appropriate action” to overcome learning barriers for English Language Learner students. The opinion is available here.

Atlantic Sounding Co., Inc., et al. v. Townsend (08-214):  The decision below is affirmed and remanded in a 5-4 opinion by Justice Thomas. Justice Alito filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia and Kennedy. The Court held that the respondent is entitled to pursue punitive damages. The opinion is available here.

Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts (07-591): The decision below is reversed and remanded in a 5-4 opinion by Justice Scalia. Justice Kennedy filed a dissenting opinion joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Breyer and Alito. The Court held that a lab chemist must be called to testify in order to admit the lab analysis as evidence in a trial. The opinion is available here.

Safford United School District #1 v. Redding (08-479): The decision below is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded in an opinion by Justice Souter, with the Court dividing 8-1 on the Fourth Amendment question and 7-2 on the qualified immunity question. Justice Stevens filed a partial dissent joined by Justice Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg filed an opinion concurring and dissenting in part. Justice Thomas filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.  The Court held that the strip search did violate the Constitution but it wasn’t clear that the violation was established at the time of this incident.  The opinion is available here.