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The Supreme Court of the United States handed down nine per curiam opinions during its 2021 term, which began October 4, 2021 and concluded October 2, 2022.

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: Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett

Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna

595 U.S. ___
Decided October 18, 2021.
Daniel Rivas-Villegas was a Union City, California police officer who responded to a domestic violence call. A crying 12-year-old girl called 911 to report that she, her 15-year-old sister, and their mother had locked themselves in a room at their house out of fear that their mother's boyfriend, Ramon Cortesluna, would hurt them. Rivas-Villegas was dispatched to the home along with several other officers. They entered the home and confronted Cortesluna, ordering him to put his hands up and get on his knees. Cortesluna did so, and one of the officers noticed a knife in his pocket. The officer ordered him to stop moving, but Cortesluna moved his head and hands downward. The officer then shot two Bean bag rounds at him, and while he was subdued, Officer Rivas-Villegas approached and straddled Cortesluna, placing his knee on Cortesluna's back. Another officer removed the knife from Cortesluna's pocket, and both officers then handcuffed and arrested Cortesluna.

Cortesluna sued Rivas-Villegas, alleging that Rivas-Villegas used excessive force in how he subdued Cortesluna. The district court granted summary judgement to Rivas-Villegas, but the Ninth Circuit reversed that decision, holding that Rivas-Villegas was not entitled to qualified immunity because of a 2000 case that had a similar fact pattern. Judge Daniel P. Collins dissented, arguing that the facts of the earlier case and this one were different enough that qualified immunity could be granted. The United States Supreme Court agreed with Judge Collins that the two cases had different enough fact patterns, and thus reversed the Ninth Circuit's judgement that Officer Rivas-Villegas was not entitled to qualified immunity.

City of Tahlequah v. Bond

595 U.S. ___
Decided October 18, 2021.
Tenth Circuit reversed.

United States v. Texas

595 U.S. ___
Argued November 1, 2021.
Decided December 10, 2021.
The Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted. The application to vacate stay was denied.

Sotomayor dissented without separate opinion.

Biden v. Missouri

595 U.S. ___
Argued January 7, 2022.
Decided January 13, 2022.
Applications for stays granted.

Thomas filed a dissent, joined by Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett. Alito filed a dissent, joined by Thomas, Gorsuch, and Barrett.

National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration

595 U.S. ___
Argued January 7, 2022.
Decided January 13, 2022.
Applications for stays granted.

Gorsuch filed a concurrence, joined by Thomas and Alito. Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan filed a dissent.

Wisconsin Legislature v. Wisconsin Elections Commission

595 U.S. ___
Decided March 23, 2022.
After each decennial census, all 50 states are required to re-draw their state legislative districts so that the population of each district is proportional. After the 2020 United States census, Wisconsin's state legislature drew and passed proposed maps, which were vetoed by Governor Tony Evers. Deadlocked, both parties turned to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which invited several parties and intervenors, including the governor and the legislature, to submit proposals that complied with the United States Constitution, the Wisconsin Constitution, and contained the fewest changes from the previously enacted maps. In a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court chose the maps that Governor Evers submitted, which created seven majority-black districts, one more majority-black district than the previous maps contained. In adopting the Governor's proposed maps, Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote that the Court "cannot say for certain on this record that seven majority-Black assembly districts are required by the VRA,” but concluded that there were “good reasons” to think that the VRA “may” require another majority-black district.

The Wisconsin Legislature appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which reversed the Wisconsin Supreme Court's decision, holding that a state must find that adding majority-minority district is required under the Voting Rights Act, not simply that it would be allowable under the VRA.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a dissent, which was joined by Justice Kagan. In it, she argued that this was not a case fit for summary reversal, as the VRA precedents that the majority claimed existed were "hazy at best."

LeDure v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

595 U.S. ___
Argued March 28, 2022.
Decided April 28, 2022.
Bradley LeDure was an employee of the Union Pacific Railroad Company when he slipped and fell on an oily walkway in a rail yard in Salem, Illinois. LeDure sued Union Pacific for negligence, claiming violations of the Locomotive Inspection Act and the Federal Employers Liability Act because the railroad did not maintain a hazard-free work environment. The District Court granted summary judgment for Union Pacific and dismissed LeDure's suit with prejudice. The District Court also found that the Locomotive Inspection Act did not apply because the equipment that LeDure slipped on was not "in use" at the time of the incident. LeDure appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and a panel consisting of judges Bauer, Kanne, and Barrett affirmed summary judgement, agreeing that the rail equipment was not "in use" at the time that LeDure slipped. This interpretation of "in use" conflicted with the interpretations of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeals. The conflict created a circuit split, and LeDure appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which granted certiorari.

Between the decision of the Seventh Circuit in June 2020 and the granting of certiorari in December 2021, Amy Coney Barrett was elevated to the United States Supreme Court. She recused herself from hearing the case at the Supreme Court, likely because her sitting in review of her own decision would have created a conflict of interest. As a result, only the remaining eight justices heard oral arguments in March 2022. The Court split 4-4 in their decision, so a per curium opinion was issued and the Seventh Circuit's decision was affirmed by an evenly-divided Court.

Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco

596 U.S. ___
Argued February 23, 2022.
Decided June 15, 2022.
The Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.

Roberts filed a concurrence, joined by Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 595
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 596

Notes

References

• "2021 Term Opinions of the Court". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 18, 2021.

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