2015 term opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
The 2015 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 5, 2015, and concluded October 2, 2016. The table below illustrates which opinion was filed by each justice in each case and which justices joined each opinion.[ 1]
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.
2015 term opinions
#
Case name and citation
Argued
Decided
Roberts
Scalia
Kennedy
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
Alito
Sotomayor
Kagan
1
Maryland v. Kulbicki , 577 U.S. ___ October 5, 2015
2
Mullenix v. Luna , 577 U.S. ___ November 9, 2015
3
OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs , 577 U.S. ___ October 5, 2015 December 1, 2015
4
Shapiro v. McManus , 577 U.S. ___ November 4, 2015 December 8, 2015
5
DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia , 577 U.S. ___ October 6, 2015 December 14, 2015
6
White v. Wheeler , 577 U.S. ___ December 14, 2015
7
Bruce v. Samuels , 577 U.S. ___ November 4, 2015 January 12, 2016
8
Hurst v. Florida , 577 U.S. ___ October 13, 2015 January 12, 2016
9
Kansas v. Carr , 577 U.S. ___ October 7, 2015 January 20, 2016
10
Montanile v. Board of Trustees of Nat. Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan , 577 U.S. ___ November 9, 2015 January 20, 2016
11
Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez , 577 U.S. ___ October 14, 2015 January 20, 2016
12
Duncan v. Owens ,[ 2] 577 U.S. ___ January 12, 2016 January 20, 2016
13
Montgomery v. Louisiana , 577 U.S. ___ October 13, 2015 January 25, 2016
14
Musacchio v. United States , 577 U.S. ___ November 30, 2015 January 25, 2016
15
Menominee Tribe of Wis. v. United States , 577 U.S. ___ December 1, 2015 January 25, 2016
16
FERC v. Electric Power Supply Assn. , 577 U.S. ___ October 14, 2015 January 25, 2016
17
James v. Boise , 577 U.S. ___ January 25, 2016
18
Amgen Inc. v. Harris , 577 U.S. ___ January 25, 2016
19
Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. , 577 U.S. ___ December 2, 2015 March 1, 2016
20
Lockhart v. United States , 577 U.S. ___ November 3, 2015 March 1, 2016
21
Americold Realty Trust v. ConAgra Foods, Inc. , 577 U.S. ___ January 19, 2016 March 7, 2016
22
Wearry v. Cain , 577 U.S. ___ March 7, 2016
23
V.L. v. E.L. , 577 U.S. ___ March 7, 2016
24
Caetano v. Massachusetts , 577 U.S. ___ March 21, 2016
25
Sturgeon v. Frost , 577 U.S. ___ January 20, 2016 March 22, 2016
26
Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo , 577 U.S. ___ November 10, 2015 March 22, 2016
27
Nebraska v. Parker , 577 U.S. ___ January 20, 2016 March 22, 2016
28
Hawkins v. Community Bank ,[ 3] 577 U.S. ___ October 5, 2015 March 22, 2016
29
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Assn. ,[ 4] 578 U.S. ___ January 11, 2016 March 29, 2016
30
Luis v. United States , 578 U.S. ___ November 10, 2015 March 30, 2016
31
Evenwel v. Abbott , 578 U.S. ___ December 8, 2015 April 4, 2016
32
Nichols v. United States , 578 U.S. ___ March 1, 2016 April 4, 2016
33
Woods v. Etherton , 578 U.S. ___ April 4, 2016
34
Welch v. United States , 578 U.S. ___ March 30, 2016 April 18, 2016
35
Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing, LLC , 578 U.S. ___ February 24, 2016 April 19, 2016
36
Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt , 578 U.S. ___ December 7, 2015 April 19, 2016
37
Molina-Martinez v. United States , 578 U.S. ___ January 12, 2016 April 20, 2016
38
Bank Markazi v. Peterson , 578 U.S. ___ January 13, 2016 April 20, 2016
39
Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission , 578 U.S. ___ December 8, 2015 April 20, 2016
40
Heffernan v. City of Paterson , 578 U.S. ___ January 19, 2016 April 26, 2016
41
Ocasio v. United States , 578 U.S. ___ October 6, 2015 May 2, 2016
42
Sheriff v. Gillie , 578 U.S. ___ March 29, 2016 May 16, 2016
43
Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins , 578 U.S. ___ November 2, 2015 May 16, 2016
44
Husky Int'l Electronics, Inc. v. Ritz , 578 U.S. ___ March 1, 2016 May 16, 2016
45
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Manning , 578 U.S. ___ December 1, 2015 May 16, 2016
46
Zubik v. Burwell , 578 U.S. ___ March 23, 2016 May 16, 2016
47
Kernan v. Hinojosa , 578 U.S. ___ May 16, 2016
48
CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. EEOC , 578 U.S. ___ March 28, 2016 May 19, 2016
49
Betterman v. Montana , 578 U.S. ___ March 28, 2016 May 19, 2016
50
Luna Torres v. Lynch , 578 U.S. ___ November 3, 2015 May 19, 2016
51
Foster v. Chatman , 578 U.S. ___ November 2, 2015 May 23, 2016
52
Wittman v. Personhuballah , 578 U.S. ___ March 21, 2016 May 23, 2016
53
Green v. Brennan , 578 U.S. ___ November 30, 2015 May 23, 2016
54
Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. , 578 U.S. ___ March 30, 2016 May 31, 2016
55
Johnson v. Lee , 578 U.S. ___ May 31, 2016
56
Lynch v. Arizona , 578 U.S. ___ May 31, 2016
57
Simmons v. Himmelreich , 578 U.S. ___ March 22, 2016 June 6, 2016
58
Ross v. Blake , 578 U.S. ___ March 29, 2016 June 6, 2016
59
Williams v. Pennsylvania , 579 U.S. ___ February 29, 2016 June 9, 2016
60
Dietz v. Bouldin , 579 U.S. ___ April 26, 2016 June 9, 2016
61
Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle , 579 U.S. ___ January 13, 2016 June 9, 2016
62
Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. , 579 U.S. ___ February 23, 2016 June 13, 2016
63
Puerto Rico v. Franklin Cal. Tax-Free Trust , 579 U.S. ___ March 22, 2016 June 13, 2016
64
United States v. Bryant , 579 U.S. ___ April 19, 2016 June 13, 2016
65
Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States , 579 U.S. ___ February 22, 2016 June 16, 2016
66
Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar , 579 U.S. ___ April 19, 2016 June 16, 2016
67
Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , 579 U.S. ___ April 25, 2016 June 16, 2016
68
Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro , 579 U.S. ___ April 20, 2016 June 20, 2016
69
Utah v. Strieff , 579 U.S. ___ February 22, 2016 June 20, 2016
70
Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee , 579 U.S. ___ April 25, 2016 June 20, 2016
71
Taylor v. United States , 579 U.S. ___ February 23, 2016 June 20, 2016
72
RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community , 579 U.S. ___ March 21, 2016 June 20, 2016
73
Fisher v. University of Tex. at Austin , 579 U.S. ___ December 9, 2015 June 23, 2016
74
Birchfield v. North Dakota , 579 U.S. ___ April 20, 2016 June 23, 2016
75
Mathis v. United States , 579 U.S. ___ April 26, 2016 June 23, 2016
76
Dollar General Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians ,[ 5] 579 U.S. ___ December 7, 2015 June 23, 2016
77
United States v. Texas ,[ 6] 579 U.S. ___ April 18, 2016 June 23, 2016
78
McDonnell v. United States , 579 U.S. ___ April 27, 2016 June 27, 2016
79
Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt , 579 U.S. ___ March 2, 2016 June 27, 2016
80
Voisine v. United States , 579 U.S. ___ February 29, 2016 June 27, 2016
#
Case name and citation
Argued
Decided
Roberts
Scalia
Kennedy
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
Alito
Sotomayor
Kagan
2015 term membership and statistics
This was the eleventh term of Chief Justice Roberts's tenure. Justice Scalia died on February 13, 2016, making it the sixth and final term with the same membership.
Justice
Appointment history
Agreement with judgment
Opinions filed
Seniority
Name
President
Date confirmed
%
#
Total
Chief Justice
John Roberts
George W. Bush
September 29, 2005
91.3%
73/80
6
1
0
4
11
Associate Justice
Antonin Scalia
Ronald Reagan
September 26, 1986
83.3%
15/18
2
1
0
2
5
Associate Justice
Anthony Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
February 18, 1988
97.5%
78/80
9
2
0
1
12
Associate Justice
Clarence Thomas
George H. W. Bush
October 23, 1991
72.5%
58/80
7
14
1
17
39
Associate Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Bill Clinton
August 10, 1993
87.5%
70/80
8
4
1
4
17
Associate Justice
Stephen Breyer
Bill Clinton
August 3, 1994
93.8%
75/80
8
5
1
2
16
Associate Justice
Samuel Alito
George W. Bush
January 31, 2006
82.1%
64/78
7
5
1
6
19
Associate Justice
Sonia Sotomayor
Barack Obama
August 6, 2009
81%
64/79
7
3
1
7
18
Associate Justice
Elena Kagan
Barack Obama
August 7, 2010
94.9%
75/79
8
1
0
3
12
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.
Totals
62
36
5
46
149
Notes
^ One decree in an original jurisdiction case has been omitted from this table: Montana v. Wyoming , 577 U.S. ___ (2016).
^ In Duncan v. Owens , 577 U.S. ___ (2016), the Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted .
^ The Court's per curiam opinion in Hawkins v. Community Bank , 577 U.S. ___ (2016), noted that the judgment was affirmed by an equally divided Court .
^ The Court's per curiam opinion in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Assn. , 578 U.S. ___ (2016), noted that the judgment was affirmed by an equally divided Court .
^ The Court's per curiam opinion in Dollar General Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians , 579 U.S. ___ (2016), noted that the judgment was affirmed by an equally divided Court .
^ The Court's per curiam opinion in United States v. Texas , 579 U.S. ___ (2016), noted that the judgment was affirmed by an equally divided Court .
References
Supreme Court of the United States 2015 term
(October 5, 2015 – October 2, 2016)
List of cases by Court Seal of the United States Supreme Court Complete list By recent term By subject matter Other lists