2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Sonia Sotomayor

None February 2026 September 2023 Sonia Sotomayor File:Sonia Sotomayor in SCOTUS robe.jpg 2010 second October 4, 2010 October 1, 2011 7 8 0 9 1 22 3 0 2 Breyer (13) Thomas (3) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinion/10 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/relatingtoorders/10 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/in-chambers/10 October 2, 2011 Sonia Sotomayor opinions SCOTUSterm2010-2015 01 Chase Bank USA, N. A. v. McCoy majority 562 195 2011 Truth in Lending Act Regulation Z credit card issuer change-in-terms notice requirements Unanimous 02 Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC dissent 562 223 2011 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 state law design defect claims federal preemption Ginsburg Scalia majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Antonin Scalia#Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC Breyer concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer#Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC 03 Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. concurrence 562 323 2011 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards on seat belt design state law torts against auto manufacturers federal preemption Breyer majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer#Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. Thomas concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Clarence Thomas#Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. 04 Michigan v. Bryant majority 562 344 2011 Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause hearsay exception for statements to help police address ongoing emergency Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer, Alito Thomas concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Clarence Thomas#Michigan v. Bryant Scalia dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Antonin Scalia#Michigan v. Bryant Ginsburg dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Ruth Bader Ginsburg#Michigan v. Bryant 05 Pepper v. United States majority 562 476 2011 Federal Sentencing Guidelines consideration of postsentencing rehabilitation Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg; Breyer, Alito (in part) Breyer concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer#Pepper v. United States Alito concurrencedissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Samuel Alito#Pepper v. United States Thomas dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Clarence Thomas#Pepper v. United States 06 Pitre v. Cain dissent 562 992 2010 Pitre v. Cain/Dissent Sotomayor Eighth Amendment prison conditions right to refuse medical treatment Sotomayor dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari. She believed that the lower courts erred in dismissing a prison inmate's complaint, which alleged that, as punishment for his refusal to take his HIV medication as a protest against his transfer to a prison facility, prison officials subjected him to hard labor in extreme heat that posed a serious risk to his health. Sotomayor argued that the inmate stated an Eighth Amendment claim for deliberate indifference, and that it was incorrect for the lower court to dismiss his complaint for his failure to submit evidence in support prior to a responsive pleading being submitted. 07 Gamache v. California other 562 1083 Gamache v. California/Statement Sotomayor 2010 harmless error burden of proof Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan Sotomayor filed a statement respecting the Court's denial of certiorari. Prior to rendering a guilty verdict and death sentence, a jury had been given access to a damaging video tape depicting the defendant that had not been admitted into evidence. The California Supreme Court, stating that the defendant had the burden of proving prejudice, determined that the introduction of the tape was harmless error. Sotomayor wrote to correct the court's error of law, noting that under Supreme Court precedent the burden is instead upon the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a constitutional trial error was harmless. She believed, however, that based on the evidence and the court's analysis, the outcome would have been the same in this case regardless of how the burden was allocated, and so did not disagree with the denial of certiorari. 08 Williams v. Hobbs dissent 562 1097 2010 Williams v. Hobbs/Dissent Sotomayor habeas corpus evidentiary hearings preservation of issues on appeal Ginsburg Sotomayor dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari of a judgment reversing the granting of a habeas petition after an evidentiary hearing. The petitioner had been convicted of murder in state court and sentenced to death after his attorneys conceded his guilt at trial and failed to present any substantive mitigating evidence at sentencing. In District Court, he established that his counsel was ineffective and at the evidentiary hearing to establish prejudice, presented evidence of his childhood of abuse and neglect. In reversing the District Court's granting of the petition, the Eighth Circuit claimed that the State had preserved its objection to the evidentiary hearing, when in Sotomayor's view it not only made no clear objection but in fact, "voluntarily participate[d]...without objection, with an apparent intent of supplementing the record for its own purposes, and at a significant cost and expenditure of judicial resources." "Today", she wrote, "the Court refuses to review the Eighth Circuit's conclusion that a State may withhold an objection to a federal habeas evidentiary hearing until after the hearing is complete, the constitutional violation established, and habeas relief granted. Because I believe such a rule enables, and even invites, States to manipulate federal habeas proceedings to their own strategic advantage at an unacceptable cost to justice, I respectfully dissent." 09 Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano majority 563 27 2011 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 10b-5 failure of pharmaceutical company to disclose evidence of drug side effect materiality Unanimous 10 Cullen v. Pinholster dissent 563 170 2011 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 introduction of new evidence in habeas corpus proceedings Sixth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel Ginsburg, Kagan (in part) Thomas majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Clarence Thomas#Cullen v. Pinholster Alito concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Samuel Alito#Cullen v. Pinholster Breyer concurrencedissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer#Cullen v. Pinholster 11 Sossamon v. Texas dissent 563 277 2011 prisoners' rights Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act Spending Clause sovereign immunity Breyer Thomas majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Clarence Thomas#Sossamon v. Texas 12 United States v. Tohono O'odham Nation concurrence 563 307 2011 Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction separate suits based on same operative facts Breyer Kennedy majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Anthony Kennedy#United States v. Tohono O'odham Nation Ginsburg dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Ruth Bader Ginsburg#United States v. Tohono O'odham Nation 13 Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting dissent 563 582 2011 Immigration Reform and Control Act Legal Arizona Workers Act state requirement that businesses use E-Verify suspension or revocation of business licenses for hiring unauthorized aliens federal preemption Roberts majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of John Roberts#Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting Breyer dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer#Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting 14 Camreta v. Greene concurrence 563 692 2011 Article III Case or Controversy Clause standing review of constitutional issue on appeal from defendant with qualified immunity mootness Breyer Kagan majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Elena Kagan#Camreta v. Greene Scalia concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Antonin Scalia#Camreta v. Greene Kennedy dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Anthony Kennedy#Camreta v. Greene 15 Ashcroft v. al-Kidd concurrence 563 731 2011 material witness arrest of terrorism suspects pretextual motivation Fourth Amendment qualified immunity Ginsburg, Breyer Scalia majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Antonin Scalia#Ashcroft v. al-Kidd Kennedy concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Anthony Kennedy#Ashcroft v. al-Kidd Ginsburg concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Ruth Bader Ginsburg#Ashcroft v. al-Kidd 16 Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior Univ. v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. concurrence 563 776 2011 patent law University and Small Business Patent Procedures Act of 1980 vesting of federally funded patents in inventors or contractors Roberts majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of John Roberts#Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior Univ. v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. Breyer dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer#Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior Univ. v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. 17 DePierre v. United States majority 564 70 2011 Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 sentence enhancement for "cocaine base" Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Kagan; Scalia (in part) Scalia concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Antonin Scalia#DePierre v. United States 18 Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership majority 564 91 2011 Patent Act of 1952 presumption of patent validity on-sale bar clear and convincing evidence Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Kagan Thomas concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Clarence Thomas#Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership Breyer concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer#Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership 19 United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation dissent 564 162 2011 fiduciary exception to attorney–client privilege general trust relationship between the United States and Indian tribes Alito majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Samuel Alito#United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation Ginsburg concurrence 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Ruth Bader Ginsburg#United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation 20 Davis v. United States (2011) Davis v. United States concurrence 564 229 2011 Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule good faith reliance on binding appellate precedent Alito majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Samuel Alito#Davis v. United States Breyer dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Stephen Breyer#Davis v. United States 21 J. D. B. v. North Carolina majority 564 261 2011 Fifth Amendment Miranda warning effect of minor's age on determining custodial status Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan Alito dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Samuel Alito#J. D. B. v. North Carolina 22 Tapia v. United States concurrence 564 319 2011 extension of prison sentence to foster rehabilitation Alito Kagan majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Elena Kagan#Tapia v. United States 23 Freeman v. United States concurrence 564 522 2011 Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 sentence reduction due to retroactive amendment of Sentencing Guidelines plea bargain under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 Kennedy plurality 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Anthony Kennedy#Freeman v. United States Roberts dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of John Roberts#Freeman v. United States 24 PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing dissent 564 604 2011 federal generic drug labeling requirements federal preemption Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan Thomas majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Clarence Thomas#PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing 25 Bullcoming v. New Mexico concurrence 564 647 2011 Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause forensic laboratory report as testimony Ginsburg majority 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Ruth Bader Ginsburg#Bullcoming v. New Mexico Kennedy dissent 2010 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Anthony Kennedy#Bullcoming v. New Mexico