2015 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer

The 2015 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 5, 2015, and concluded October 2, 2016. This was the twenty-second term of Associate Justice Stephen Breyer's tenure on the Court.
Stephen Breyer 2015 term statistics 8 Majority or Plurality 6 Concurrence 0 Other 8 Dissent 1 Concurrence/dissent Total = 23 Bench opinions = 16 Opinions relating to orders = 7 In-chambers opinions = 0 Unanimous opinions: 2 Most joined by: Ginsburg (9) Least joined by: Scalia (1)[1]

Type	Case	Citation	Issues	Joined by	Other opinions
	Correll v. Florida	577 U.S. ___ (2015)	Eighth Amendment  • death penalty		Sotomayor
Breyer dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari and application for stay of execution.
	DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia	577 U.S. ___ (2015)	Federal Arbitration Act	Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Alito, Kagan	Thomas Ginsburg
	Hurst v. Florida	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	death penalty  • Sixth Amendment  • right to a jury trial  • judicial factfinding of aggravating circumstances after jury advisory recommendation		Sotomayor Alito
	Brooks v. Alabama	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	death penalty		Sotomayor
Breyer dissented from the Court's denial of a stay of execution and a petition for certiorari.
	Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co.	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974  • preemption of state law health care disclosure requirements		Kennedy Thomas Ginsburg
	Luis v. United States	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	pretrial asset freezing  • Sixth Amendment  • right to counsel of one's choice	Roberts, Ginsburg, Sotomayor	Thomas Kennedy Kagan
	Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	taxpayer lawsuit against State in court of another State  • Full Faith and Credit Clause	Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan	Roberts
	Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	legislative redistricting  • Voting Rights Act  • Fourteenth Amendment  • Equal Protection Clause	Unanimous[2]
	Heffernan v. City of Paterson	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	First Amendment  • free speech by government employees  • demotion based on employer's factual mistake regarding engagement in protected activity	Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan	Thomas
	Ocasio v. United States	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Hobbs Act  • conspiracy		Alito Thomas Sotomayor
	Boyer v. Davis	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Eighth Amendment  • death penalty  • decades-long delay in carrying out execution
Breyer dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari.
	Wittman v. Personhuballah	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	legislative redistricting  • Article III  • standing	Unanimous[2]
	Tucker v. Louisiana	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Eighth Amendment  • death penalty	Ginsburg
Breyer dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari.
	Ross v. Blake	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995  • exhaustion of remedies		Kagan Thomas
	Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Double Jeopardy Clause  • sovereignty of Puerto Rico	Sotomayor	Kagan Thomas Ginsburg
	Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc.	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	patent law  • Patent Act of 1952  • enhanced damages for infringement	Kennedy, Alito	Roberts
	Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Leahy-Smith America Invents Act  • appealability of decision to conduct inter partes review	Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, Kagan; Alito, Sotomayor (in part)	Thomas Alito
	RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act  • extraterritorial application		Alito Ginsburg
	Mathis v. United States	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Armed Career Criminal Act  • sentence enhancement for prior convictions	Ginsburg	Kagan Kennedy Thomas Alito
	Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fourteenth Amendment  • abortion  • regulation of abortion providers  • Texas Senate Bill 5  • res judicata	Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan	Ginsburg Thomas Alito
	Conner v. Sellers	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Eighth Amendment  • death penalty  • lengthy delay in carrying out execution
Breyer dissented from the Court's denial of an application for a stay of execution and of certiorari.
	Conner v. Sellers	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Eighth Amendment  • death penalty  • lengthy delay in carrying out execution
Breyer dissented from the Court's denial of an application for a stay of execution and of certiorari.
	Gloucester County School Board v. G. G.	579 U.S. ___ (2016)
Breyer concurred in the Court's granting of a stay pending a petition for certiorari.

Notes

1. All but two of Breyer's opinions were issued after Justice Scalia's death. Of the justices who participated the entire term, Thomas joined the fewest of Breyer's opinions, with three.
2. This opinion was handed down after the death of Justice Scalia, and so was unanimous as to the eight justices remaining on the Court.

References

• 2015 Term Opinions of the Court, Supreme Court of the United States, retrieved August 4, 2016.
• 2015 Term Opinions Relating to Orders, Supreme Court of the United States, retrieved August 4, 2016.
• 2015 Term In-Chambers Opinions, Supreme Court of the United States, retrieved August 4, 2016.