2003 term opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
The 2003 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 6, 2003, and concluded October 3, 2004. The table illustrates which opinion was filed by each justice in each case and which justices joined each opinion.
Table key
Delivered the Court's opinion
Joined the Court's opinion
Filed a concurrence
Joined a concurrence
Filed a dissent
Joined a dissent
Filed a concurrence/dissent
Joined a concurrence/dissent
Did not participate in the decision
Decisions that do not note an argument date were decided without oral argument. Decisions that do not note a Justice delivering the Court's opinion are per curiam .
Multiple concurrences and dissents within a case are numbered, with joining votes numbered accordingly. Justices frequently join multiple opinions in a single case; each vote is subdivided accordingly.
An asterisk ( * ) in the Court's opinion denotes that it was only a majority in part or a plurality. An asterisk in a joining vote denotes that the justice joined it only in part.
A dash ( - ) denotes that the Justice voted without filing or joining an opinion.
2003 term opinions
#
Case name and citation
Argued
Decided
Rehnquist
Stevens
O'Connor
Scalia
Kennedy
Souter
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
1
Yarborough v. Gentry , 540 U.S. 1 October 20, 2003
2
Mitchell v. Esparza , 540 U.S. 12 November 3, 2003
3
Barnhart v. Thomas , 540 U.S. 20 October 14, 2003 November 12, 2003
4
United States v. Banks , 540 U.S. 31 October 15, 2003 December 2, 2003
5
Raytheon Co. v. Hernandez , 540 U.S. 44 October 8, 2003 December 2, 2003
6
Virginia v. Maryland , 540 U.S. 56 October 7, 2003 December 9, 2003
7
McConnell v. Federal Election Commission ,[ 1] 540 U.S. 93 September 8, 2003 December 10, 2003
8
Maryland v. Pringle , 540 U.S. 366 November 3, 2003 December 15, 2003
9
Castro v. United States , 540 U.S. 375 October 15, 2003 December 15, 2003
10
SEC v. Edwards , 540 U.S. 389 November 4, 2003 January 13, 2004
11
Verizon Comm., Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, LLP , 540 U.S. 398 October 14, 2003 January 13, 2004
12
Illinois v. Lidster , 540 U.S. 419 November 5, 2003 January 13, 2004
13
Frew v. Hawkins , 540 U.S. 431 October 7, 2003 January 14, 2004
14
Kontrick v. Ryan , 540 U.S. 443 November 3, 2003 January 14, 2004
15
Alaska Dep't of Envtl. Conservation v. EPA , 540 U.S. 461 October 8, 2003 January 21, 2004
16
Fellers v. United States , 540 U.S. 519 December 10, 2003 January 26, 2004
17
Lamie v. United States Trustee , 540 U.S. 526 November 10, 2003 January 26, 2004
18
Illinois v. Fisher , 540 U.S. 544 February 23, 2004
19
Groh v. Ramirez , 540 U.S. 551 November 4, 2003 February 24, 2004
20
General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline , 540 U.S. 581 November 12, 2003 February 24, 2004
21
Doe v. Chao , 540 U.S. 614 December 3, 2003 February 24, 2004
22
Olympic Airways v. Husain , 540 U.S. 644 November 12, 2003 February 24, 2004
23
Banks v. Dretke , 540 U.S. 668 December 8, 2003 February 24, 2004
24
Locke v. Davey , 540 U.S. 712 December 2, 2003 February 25, 2004
25
United States Postal Serv. v. Flamingo Indus. (USA) Ltd. , 540 U.S. 736 December 1, 2003 February 25, 2004
26
Muhammad v. Close , 540 U.S. 749 December 1, 2003 February 25, 2004
27
Raymond B. Yates, M.D., P.C. Profit Sharing Plan v. Hendon , 541 U.S. 1 January 13, 2004 March 2, 2004
28
Baldwin v. Reese , 541 U.S. 27 December 8, 2003 March 2, 2004
29
Crawford v. Washington , 541 U.S. 36 November 10, 2003 March 8, 2004
30
Iowa v. Tovar , 541 U.S. 77 January 21, 2004 March 8, 2004
31
S. Fla. Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians , 541 U.S. 95 January 14, 2004 March 23, 2004
32
United States v. Galletti , 541 U.S. 114 January 12, 2004 March 23, 2004
33
Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League , 541 U.S. 125 January 12, 2004 March 24, 2004
34
United States v. Flores-Montano , 541 U.S. 149 February 25, 2004 March 30, 2004
35
Nat'l Archives & Records Admin. v. Favish , 541 U.S. 157 December 3, 2003 March 30, 2004
36
BedRoc Ltd., LLC v. United States , 541 U.S. 176 January 20, 2004 March 31, 2004
37
United States v. Lara , 541 U.S. 193 January 21, 2004 April 19, 2004
38
Household Credit Servs. v. Pfennig , 541 U.S. 232 February 23, 2004 April 21, 2004
39
Engine Mfrs. Ass'n v. S. Coast Air Quality Mgmt. Dist. , 541 U.S. 246 January 14, 2004 April 28, 2004
40
Vieth v. Jubelirer , 541 U.S. 267 December 10, 2003 April 28, 2004
41
Jones v. R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. , 541 U.S. 369 February 24, 2004 May 3, 2004
42
Dretke v. Haley , 541 U.S. 386 March 2, 2004 May 3, 2004
43
Scarborough v. Principi , 541 U.S. 401 February 23, 2004 May 3, 2004
44
Johnson v. California , 541 U.S. 428 March 30, 2004 May 3, 2004
45
Middleton v. McNeil , 541 U.S. 433 May 3, 2004
46
Tennessee Student Assistance Corp. v. Hood , 541 U.S. 440 March 1, 2004 May 17, 2004
47
Till v. SCS Credit Corp. , 541 U.S. 465 December 2, 2003 May 17, 2004
48
Tennessee v. Lane , 541 U.S. 509 January 13, 2004 May 17, 2004
49
Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L.P. , 541 U.S. 567 March 3, 2004 May 17, 2004
50
Sabri v. United States , 541 U.S. 600 March 3, 2004 May 17, 2004
51
Thornton v. United States , 541 U.S. 615 March 31, 2004 May 24, 2004
52
Nelson v. Campbell , 541 U.S. 637 March 29, 2004 May 24, 2004
53
Yarborough v. Alvarado , 541 U.S. 652 March 1, 2004 June 1, 2004
54
Republic of Austria v. Altmann , 541 U.S. 677 February 25, 2004 June 7, 2004
55
Central Laborers' Pension Fund v. Heinz , 541 U.S. 739 April 19, 2004 June 7, 2004
56
DOT v. Pub. Citizen , 541 U.S. 752 April 21, 2004 June 7, 2004
57
City of Littleton v. Z. J. Gifts D-4, L.L.C. , 541 U.S. 774 March 24, 2004 June 7, 2004
58
Elk Grove Unified Sch. Dist. v. Newdow , 542 U.S. 1 March 24, 2004 June 14, 2004
59
Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance , 542 U.S. 55 March 29, 2004 June 14, 2004
60
United States v. Dominguez Benitez , 542 U.S. 74 April 21, 2004 June 14, 2004
61
Hibbs v. Winn , 542 U.S. 88 January 20, 2004 June 14, 2004
62
Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders , 542 U.S. 129 March 31, 2004 June 14, 2004
63
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd v. Empagran S. A. , 542 U.S. 155 April 26, 2004 June 14, 2004
64
Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada , 542 U.S. 177 March 22, 2004 June 21, 2004
65
Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila , 542 U.S. 200 March 23, 2004 June 21, 2004
66
Pliler v. Ford , 542 U.S. 225 April 26, 2004 June 21, 2004
67
Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. , 542 U.S. 241 April 20, 2004 June 21, 2004
68
Tennard v. Dretke , 542 U.S. 274 March 22, 2004 June 24, 2004
69
Blakely v. Washington , 542 U.S. 296 March 23, 2004 June 24, 2004
70
Schriro v. Summerlin , 542 U.S. 348 April 19, 2004 June 24, 2004
71
Cheney v. United States District Court , 542 U.S. 367 April 27, 2004 June 24, 2004
72
Beard v. Banks , 542 U.S. 406 February 24, 2004 June 24, 2004
73
Rumsfeld v. Padilla , 542 U.S. 426 April 28, 2004 June 28, 2004
74
Rasul v. Bush , 542 U.S. 466 April 20, 2004 June 28, 2004
75
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld , 542 U.S. 507 April 28, 2004 June 28, 2004
76
Missouri v. Seibert , 542 U.S. 600 December 9, 2003 June 28, 2004
77
United States v. Patane , 542 U.S. 630 December 9, 2003 June 28, 2004
78
Holland v. Jackson , 542 U.S. 649 June 28, 2004
79
Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union , 542 U.S. 656 March 2, 2004 June 29, 2004
80
Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain , 542 U.S. 692 March 30, 2004 June 29, 2004
#
Case name and citation
Argued
Decided
Rehnquist
Stevens
O'Connor
Scalia
Kennedy
Souter
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
2003 term membership and statistics
This was the eighteenth term of Chief Justice Rehnquist's tenure, and the tenth consecutive term in which the Court's membership had not changed.
Justice
Appointment history
Agreement with judgment
Opinions filed
Seniority
Name
President
Date confirmed
%
#
Total
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Richard Nixon [ 2]
January 7, 1972
85%
68/80
9
2
0
3
14
Associate Justice
John Paul Stevens
Gerald Ford
December 19, 1975
76.3%
61/80
8
9
1
11
29
Associate Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor
Ronald Reagan
September 25, 1981
93.6%
73/78
8
4
0
2
14
Associate Justice
Antonin Scalia
Ronald Reagan
September 26, 1986
74.7%
59/79
9
10
2
9
30
Associate Justice
Anthony Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
February 18, 1988
86.3%
69/80
8
7
1
7
23
Associate Justice
David Souter
George H. W. Bush
October 9, 1990
78.5%
62/79
9
3
1
5
18
Associate Justice
Clarence Thomas
George H. W. Bush
October 23, 1991
78.8%
63/80
9
6
3
9
27
Associate Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Bill Clinton
August 10, 1993
80%
64/80
9
3
0
4
16
Associate Justice
Stephen Breyer
Bill Clinton
August 3, 1994
80.8%
63/78
7
5
0
10
22
Notes on statistics:
Opinion counts only include the bench opinions listed above; opinions relating to orders or in-chambers opinions are not included.
Agreement with the Court's judgment does not guarantee agreement with the reasoning expressed in its opinion. A justice is not considered in agreement if they dissented even in part. Agreement percentages are based only on the listed cases in which a justice participated and are rounded to the nearest one-tenth of one percentage point.
Individual opinion counts will not match the Court's totals; Stevens and O'Connor's jointly authored opinion for the Court in McConnell v. FEC is counted separately for both justices but counted only once in the Court's totals.
Totals
75
49
8
60
192
Notes
^ In McConnell v. Federal Election Commission , 540 U.S. 93 (2003), the Court issued three majority opinions, each dealing with separate issues of the case: one jointly authored by Justices Stevens and O'Connor, one authored by Chief Justice Rehnquist, and one authored by Justice Breyer.
^ Rehnquist was initially appointed by Nixon to the Court as an Associate Justice. He was subsequently appointed to serve as Chief Justice by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed in that position September 26, 1986.
References
Supreme Court of the United States 2003 term
(October 6, 2003 - October 3, 2004)
List of cases by Court Seal of the United States Supreme Court Complete list By recent term By subject matter Other lists