2011 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Samuel Alito

The 2011 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 3, 2011 and concluded September 30, 2012. This was the seventh term of Associate Justice Samuel Alito's tenure on the Court.
Samuel Alito 2011 term statistics 7 Majority or Plurality 6 Concurrence 2 Other 6 Dissent 1 Concurrence/dissent Total = 22 Bench opinions = 19 Opinions relating to orders = 3 In-chambers opinions = 0 Unanimous opinions: 1 Most joined by: Scalia (9) Least joined by: Sotomayor (2)

Type	Case	Citation	Issues	Joined by	Other opinions
	Buck v. Thaler • [full text]	565 U.S. ___ (2011)	death penalty	Scalia, Breyer	Sotomayor
Alito filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of certiorari in a case involving a murder conviction and death sentence in Texas state court. During the sentencing phase, a psychologist had improperly testified that blacks were more likely to be violent. The psychologist, however, was a defense witness, and his statements elicited during cross-examination on race as a predictor of future violence did not go beyond his direct testimony on the issue. The defendant was, therefore, himself responsible for the introduction of the inappropriate race-related statements . Further reading AP/The Huffington Post (November 7, 2011), Duane Buck, Texas Death Row Inmate, Refused Supreme Court Appeal, The Huffington Post
	Doe v. Reed • [full text]	565 U.S. ___ (2011)	disclosure of referendum petitions
Alito dissented from the Court's denial of an injunction, in a case involving a Washington state law that compelled disclosure of referendum petitions. The Court had previously decided in the case to reject a facial challenge to the constitutionality of the law, brought by supporters of a failed petition to bar domestic partnership rights to same-sex couples. On remand, the District Court also rejected the plaintiffs' as-applied challenge, ruling that they were not part of the narrow group that could challenge disclosure, and in the alternative that they had not shown the requisite threatened harm that disclosure would cause. Alito thought the standards the District Court applied were questionable and that important legal issues were raised by the case, for which there had not yet been meaningful appellate review.
	Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC	565 U.S. ___ (2012)	Americans with Disabilities Act  • First Amendment  • ministerial exception to employment discrimination laws	Kagan	Roberts Thomas
	Maples v. Thomas	565 U.S. ___ (2012)	habeas corpus  • excusable procedural default  • abandonment by counsel		Ginsburg Scalia
	United States v. Jones	565 U.S. ___ (2012)	Fourth Amendment  • GPS tracking of suspect's vehicle	Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan	Scalia Sotomayor
	Howes v. Fields	565 U.S. ___ (2012)	Miranda warning  • custodial status of prison inmate during interrogation	Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Kagan	Ginsburg
	Sackett v. EPA	566 U.S. ___ (2012)	Clean Water Act  • discharge of pollutants into navigable waters  • finality of EPA compliance order under Administrative Procedure Act		Scalia Ginsburg
	Lafler v. Cooper	566 U.S. ___ (2012)	ineffective assistance of counsel  • rejection of plea bargain as prejudice		Kennedy Scalia
	Zivotofsky v. Clinton	566 U.S. ___ (2012)	political question doctrine  • U.S. position on status of Jerusalem  • Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003  • passport designation of births in Jerusalem		Roberts Sotomayor Breyer
	FAA v. Cooper	566 U.S. ___ (2012)	Privacy Act of 1974  • sovereign immunity  • damages for mental or emotional distress	Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas	Sotomayor
	Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington	566 U.S. ___ (2012)	Fourth Amendment  • strip searches in jail of arrestees of minor offenses	Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan	Kennedy Roberts Breyer
	Rehberg v. Paulk	566 U.S. ___ (2012)	Section 1983  • absolute immunity for grand jury witnesses	Unanimous
	Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd.	566 U.S. ___ (2012)	Court Interpreters Act  • document translation expenses as court costs awardable to prevailing parties	Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Kagan	Ginsburg
	Elgin v. Department of Treasury	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	Civil Service Reform Act of 1978  • Merit Systems Protection Board  • jurisdiction over constitutional claims by federal employees	Ginsburg, Kagan	Thomas
	Williams v. Illinois	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	Sixth Amendment  • Confrontation Clause  • expert testimony	Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer	Thomas Breyer Kagan
	Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp.	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	Fair Labor Standards Act  • exemption of outside salesmen from overtime regulations  • status of pharmaceutical sales representatives	Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas	Breyer
	Knox v. Service Employees	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	mootness due to voluntary cessation  • First Amendment  • compulsory fees for political lobbying by public sector agency shop	Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas	Sotomayor Breyer
	Arizona v. United States	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	immigration  • federal preemption  • Arizona SB 1070		Kennedy Scalia Thomas
	Miller v. Alabama	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	Eighth Amendment  • Cruel and Unusual Punishment  • sentencing of juveniles to life without parole	Scalia	Kagan Breyer Roberts Thomas
	Mount Soledad Memorial Assn. v. Trunk	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	First Amendment  • Establishment Clause  • religious monument on public land
Alito filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of certiorari.
	National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act  • individual mandate  • Anti-Injunction Act  • Commerce Clause  • Necessary and Proper Clause  • Medicaid expansion  • coercive conditions on federal spending		Roberts Ginsburg Thomas
Signed jointly with Justices Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas.
	United States v. Alvarez	567 U.S. ___ (2012)	Stolen Valor Act of 2005  • First Amendment  • freedom of speech  • protection of false statements	Scalia, Thomas	Kennedy Breyer

References

• 2011 Term Opinions of the Court, Supreme Court of the United States, retrieved October 23, 2012.
• 2011 Term Opinions Relating to Orders, Supreme Court of the United States, retrieved October 23, 2012.
• 2011 Term In-Chambers Opinions, Supreme Court of the United States, retrieved October 23, 2012.