This is a partial chronological list of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court during the Roberts Court, the tenure of Chief Justice John Roberts from September 29, 2005 to the present.
Roberts Court 2005 term
The 2005 term began October 3, 2005, and concluded October 1, 2006. Notable cases included the following:
Case nameCitationSummary Gonzales v. Oregon Attorney General did not permissibly construe Controlled Substances Act to prohibit the distribution of drugs for physician-assisted suicide Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Invalidating statute and lower courts rendering narrower declaratory and injunctive relief Rice v. Collins Habeas corpus relief may not be granted on the basis of debatable inferences used to overturn the trial court's finding vis-á-vis peremptory challenges Central Virginia Community College v. Katz state sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment and the Bankruptcy Clause Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal Federal government could not bar religious use of hallucinogenic tea Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna Arbitrator must decide legality of contract unless arbitration clause is itself being challenged Domino's Pizza, Inc. v. McDonald agent of a party to a contract cannot state a claim under because he himself does not have rights to make or enforce under the contract Dolan v. United States Postal Service scope of immunity of the United States Postal Service under the Federal Tort Claims Act Arbaugh v. Y & H Corporation "Employee-numerosity" requirement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is substantive, rather than jurisdictional in nature Oregon v. Guzek States may constitutionally limit the evidence of innocence a defendant convicted of a capital offense may present at his sentencing hearing to the evidence already presented at his trial. Texaco, Inc. v. Dagher joint venture was not a price-fixing scheme under antitrust law Scheidler v. National Organization for Women physical violence unrelated to robbery or extortion falls outside the scope of the Hobbs Act Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc. patented products involved in product tying arrangements are not presumed to have market power under antitrust law Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights law schools receiving federal funds may not ban military recruiters United States v. Grubbs anticipatory search warrant did not violate the particularity clause of the 4th Amendment Georgia v. Randolph police cannot conduct a warrantless search in a home where one occupant consents and the other objects Day v. McDonough A State's unintentional failure to object to the filing of a habeas corpus petition after the statute of limitations has expired does not prevent a district court from dismissing the petition on its own initiative Northern Ins. Co. of N.Y. v. Chatham County sovereign immunity does not apply to admiralty suit against county Jones v. Flowers sufficiency of notice for tax sale Hartman v. Moore A plaintiff in a retaliatory prosecution action against federal officials must plead and show the absence of probable cause for pressing the underlying criminal charges. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs. v. Ahlborn state liens on personal injury settlements Marshall v. Marshall federal bankruptcy court binding state court on inheritance question Holmes v. South Carolina limitations on exclusion of evidence in murder case, 6th Amendment DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno taxpayer standing in a Dormant Commerce Clause case Sereboff v. Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Inc. fiduciary's recovery of personal injury settlement under ERISA eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. nature of patent injunctions – revisiting Continental Paper Bag Co. v. Eastern Paper Bag Co. S. D. Warren Co. v. Maine Bd. of Env. Protection interpreting scope of activities covered by the Clean Water Act Brigham City v. Stuart reasonableness of officers' warrantless entry into a home to stop a fight under the "emergency aid exception" Garcetti v. Ceballos extent of public employees' First Amendment right to free speech in the workplace Anza v. Ideal Steel Supply Corp. activities subject to RICO Zedner v. United States a criminal defendant may not prospectively waive his rights under the Speedy Trial Act House v. Bell Post-conviction DNA forensic evidence can be considered in death penalty appeals Hill v. McDonough a challenge to lethal injection as violating the Eighth Amendment properly raised a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and is not barred by previous habeas corpus petition Hudson v. Michigan evidence obtained with a search warrant is admissible even when police violate 'knock-and-announce' rule Rapanos v. United States whether wetlands are part of the "navigable waters of the United States" and thus regulated by the Clean Water Act Davis v. Washington whether a 911 call is "testimonial" under Crawford v. Washington Samson v. California evidence obtained in a suspicionless search of parolees is admissible, and not prohibited under the Fourth Amendment Dixon v. United States burden of proof for duress as a defense to Federal firearms law violations Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White a job reassignment which is dirtier and more strenuous may constitute retaliatory discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as may a month of suspension without pay even when the employee receives back pay Woodford v. Ngo the Prison Litigation Reform Act requires proper exhaustion of administrative remedies before an inmate can file a lawsuit United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez trial court's erroneous deprivation of a criminal defendant's choice of counsel entitles him to reversal of his conviction Kansas v. Marsh statute allowing the death penalty in cases where the aggravating and mitigating evidence are equal does not violate the Eighth Amendment Randall v. Sorrell campaign finance laws which limit expenditures violate the First Amendment, and the anticorruption benefits of contribution limits must be weighed against their First Amendment costs Arlington Central School Dist. Bd. of Ed. v. Murphy The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not authorize the award of experts' fees to prevailing plaintiffs Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon informing a suspect of his rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry Texas's 2003 redistricting of District 23 constituted a violation of Latinos' rights under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, however mid-decade redistricting is constitutional as long as it is not solely motivated by partisan gain Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Guantanamo Bay detainees may not be tried by a military commission under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005; the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions both apply to the detainees Clark v. Arizona constitutionality of Arizona's insanity defense statute
Roberts Court 2006 term
The 2006 term began October 2, 2006, and concluded September 30, 2007. Notable cases included the following:
Case nameCitationSummary Purcell v. Gonzalez courts should not change election rules too close to elections Lopez v. Gonzales misdemeanor drug crimes as aggravated felonies Carey v. Musladin spectator publicity and the right to a fair trial; "clearly established" law under the AEDPA BP America Production Co. v. Burton Statute of limitations on contract actions by the Federal Government under is not applicable to administrative proceedings Medimmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. enforceability of patents before infringement Cunningham v. California applicability of Blakely v. Washington to California's determinate sentencing law Philip Morris USA v. Williams constitutional limitations on punitive damages Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts bad-faith exception to the right to convert Chapter 7 bankruptcy case to a Chapter 13 case Sinochem International Co., Ltd. v. Malaysia International Shipping Corporation District Court may respond immediately to defendant's forum non conveniens motion before resolving jurisdictional or other threshold concerns Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency power to regulate carbon dioxide emissions Davenport v. Washington Education Association A state may require that its public-sector unions receive authorization from nonmembers before spending their agency fees for election-related purposes Gonzales v. Carhart Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act James v. United States attempted burglary as a predicate crime under the Armed Career Criminal Act Scott v. Harris Fourth Amendment seizure in a high-speed chase, qualified immunity KSR v. Teleflex Patent law, nonobviousness Microsoft v. AT&T copying software in a foreign country cannot violate U.S. patent law Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. statute of limitations on employment discrimination claims Permanent Mission of India v. City of New York whether a municipality can sue other countries to collect unpaid taxes Bowles v. Russell Federal Courts of Appeals lack jurisdiction to hear habeas appeals that are filed late, even if the district court said the petitioner had additional time to file Brendlin v. California whether a passenger in an automobile is "detained" so that he may assert a Fourth Amendment violation stemming from the traffic stop itself Credit Suisse v. Billing Whether Congress's creation of the SEC implicitly exempted regulated industries from antitrust lawsuits Rita v. United States "reasonableness" of a federal prison sentence under United States v. Booker; continuing application of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. The proper standard for determining whether a plaintiff has alleged a "strong inference" of scienter under the PSLRA Morse v. Frederick free speech rights of high school students ("Bong Hits 4 Jesus") CBOCS West v. Humphries race retaliation claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act's restriction on issue ads in election campaigns Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation taxpayer standing to pursue an Establishment Clause claim against President Bush's faith-based initiative Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (companion case) affirmative action; using race as a tie-breaker in assigning students to public schools Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. applying rule of reason under Section 1 of the Sherman Act Panetti v. Quarterman executing the mentally ill
Roberts Court 2007 term
The 2007 term began October 1, 2007, and concluded September 30, 2008. Notable cases included the following: