2012 term opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States

The 2012 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 1, 2012 and concluded October 6, 2013. The table illustrates which opinion was filed by each justice in each case and which justices joined each opinion. For a brief description of the central holding in each case, see the list of cases decided by the Roberts court during the 2012 term.

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 concurred or dissented without filing a separate opinion.

2012 term opinions


Case name and citation Argued Decided Roberts Scalia Kennedy Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Alito Sotomayor Kagan
1

 		Lefemine v. Wideman, 568 U.S. ___ November 5, 2012
2

 		United States v. Bormes, 568 U.S. ___ October 2, 2012 November 13, 2012
3

 		Nitro-Lift Technologies, L. L. C. v. Howard, 568 U.S. ___ November 26, 2012
4

 		Arkansas Game and Fish Comm’n v. United States, 568 U.S. ___ October 3, 2012 December 4, 2012
5

 		Kloeckner v. Solis, 568 U.S. ___ October 2, 2012 December 10, 2012
6

 		Ryan v. Valencia Gonzales, 568 U.S. ___ October 9, 2012 January 8, 2013
7

 		L.A. Cty. Flood Control Dist. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 568 U.S. ___ December 4, 2012 January 8, 2013 -
8

 		Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., 568 U.S. ___ November 7, 2012 January 9, 2013








9

 		Smith v. United States, 568 U.S. ___ November 6, 2012 January 9, 2013
10

 		Lozman v. Riviera Beach, 568 U.S. ___ October 1, 2012 January 15, 2013
11

 		Sebelius v. Auburn Regional Medical Center, 568 U.S. ___ December 4, 2012 January 22, 2013


12

 		Chafin v. Chafin, 568 U.S. ___ December 5, 2012 February 19, 2013






13

 		Bailey v. United States, 568 U.S. ___ November 1, 2012 February 19, 2013






14

 		FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc., 568 U.S. ___ November 26, 2012 February 19, 2013
15

 		Florida v. Harris, 568 U.S. ___ October 31, 2012 February 19, 2013
16

 		Gunn v. Minton, 568 U.S. ___ January 16, 2013 February 20, 2013
17

 		Henderson v. United States, 568 U.S. ___ November 28, 2012 February 20, 2013
18

 		Johnson v. Williams, 568 U.S. ___ October 3, 2012 February 20, 2013
19

 		Evans v. Michigan, 568 U.S. ___ November 6, 2012 February 20, 2013
20

 		Chaidez v. United States, 568 U.S. ___ November 1, 2012 February 20, 2013
21

 		Marx v. General Revenue Corp., 568 U.S. ___ November 7, 2012 February 26, 2013
22

 		Clapper v. Amnesty International USA, 568 U.S. ___ October 29, 2012 February 26, 2013
23

 		Gabelli v. SEC, 568 U.S. ___ January 8, 2013 February 27, 2013
24

 		Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, 568 U.S. ___ November 5, 2012 February 27, 2013
1

2*
2 2


25

 		Levin v. United States, 568 U.S. ___ January 15, 2013 March 4, 2013 *
26

 		Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 568 U.S. ___ October 29, 2012 March 19, 2013 *




27

 		Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, 568 U.S. ___ January 7, 2013 March 19, 2013
28

 		Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, 568 U.S. ___ December 3, 2012 March 20, 2013


*



29

 		Wos v. E. M. A., 568 U.S. ___ January 8, 2013 March 20, 2013


30

 		Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. ___ October 31, 2012 March 26, 2013






31

 		Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 569 U.S. ___ November 5, 2012 March 27, 2013
32

 		Millbrook v. United States, 569 U.S. ___ February 19, 2013 March 27, 2013
33

 		Marshall v. Rodgers, 569 U.S. ___ April 1, 2013
34

 		Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk, 569 U.S. ___ December 3, 2012 April 16, 2013
35

 		US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen, 569 U.S. ___ November 27, 2012 April 16, 2013
36

 		Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.,[1] 569 U.S. ___ October 1, 2012 April 17, 2013


1


3
2 2


3
2 2
37

 		Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. ___ January 9, 2013 April 17, 2013
*

*
38

 		Moncrieffe v. Holder, 569 U.S. ___ October 10, 2012 April 23, 2013 1 2
39

 		McBurney v. Young, 569 U.S. ___ February 20, 2013 April 29, 2013


40

 		Boyer v. Louisiana,[2] 569 U.S. ___ January 14, 2013 April 29, 2013






41

 		Dan's City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey, 569 U.S. ___ March 20, 2013 May 13, 2013
42

 		Bullock v. BankChampaign, N. A., 569 U.S. ___ March 18, 2013 May 13, 2013
43

 		Bowman v. Monsanto Co., 569 U.S. ___ February 19, 2013 May 13, 2013
44

 		Arlington v. FCC, 569 U.S. ___ January 16, 2013 May 20, 2013
45

 		PPL Corp. v. Commissioner, 569 U.S. ___ February 20, 2013 May 20, 2013


46

 		Metrish v. Lancaster, 569 U.S. ___ April 24, 2013 May 20, 2013
47

 		Sebelius v. Cloer, 569 U.S. ___ March 19, 2013 May 20, 2013 * *
48

 		McQuiggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. ___ February 25, 2013 May 28, 2013 *
49

 		Trevino v. Thaler, 569 U.S. ___ February 25, 2013 May 28, 2013 1 2 2 1
50

 		Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. ___ February 26, 2013 June 3, 2013
51

 		Hillman v. Maretta, 569 U.S. ___ April 22, 2013 June 3, 2013 * 1 2
52

 		Nevada v. Jackson, 569 U.S. ___ June 3, 2013
53

 		Horne v. Department of Agriculture, 569 U.S. ___ March 20, 2013 June 10, 2013
54

 		Peugh v. United States, 569 U.S. ___ February 26, 2013 June 10, 2013 1*
1*

2
* 1
1*

2
*
55

 		Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 569 U.S. ___ March 25, 2013 June 10, 2013




56

 		Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 569 U.S. ___ April 15, 2013 June 13, 2013
*

57

 		United States v. Davila, 569 U.S. ___ April 15, 2013 June 13, 2013
58

 		Tarrant Regional Water Dist. v. Herrmann, 569 U.S. ___ April 23, 2013 June 13, 2013
59

 		American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Los Angeles, 569 U.S. ___ April 16, 2013 June 13, 2013


60

 		Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc., 570 U.S. ___ March 18, 2013 June 17, 2013
*

1 2
61

 		Maracich v. Spears, 570 U.S. ___ January 9, 2013 June 17, 2013
62

 		Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. ___ January 14, 2013 June 17, 2013 1 1 1 *


2
*

1
2


2


2
63

 		FTC v. Actavis, Inc., 570 U.S. ___ March 25, 2013 June 17, 2013
64

 		Salinas v. Texas, 570 U.S. ___ April 17, 2013 June 17, 2013 *
65

 		Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int'l, Inc., 570 U.S. ___ April 22, 2013 June 20, 2013
66

 		American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, 570 U.S. ___ February 27, 2013 June 20, 2013


67

 		Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. ___ January 7, 2013 June 20, 2013


1
2
68

 		Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 570 U.S. ___ October 10, 2012 June 24, 2013


1


2
69

 		University of Tex. Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, 570 U.S. ___ April 24, 2013 June 24, 2013
70

 		United States v. Kebodeaux, 570 U.S. ___ April 17, 2013 June 24, 2013 1
1

2*
2 2
71

 		Vance v. Ball State University, 570 U.S. ___ November 26, 2012 June 24, 2013


72

 		Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, 570 U.S. ___ March 19, 2013 June 24, 2013 2 1 2 1
73

 		Ryan v. Schad, 570 U.S. ___ June 24, 2013
74

 		Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. ___ February 27, 2013 June 25, 2013


75

 		Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management Dist., 570 U.S. ___ January 15, 2013 June 25, 2013
76

 		Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 570 U.S. ___ April 16, 2013 June 25, 2013
1

2*


1
2


2
2 2
77

 		Hollingsworth v. Perry, 570 U.S. ___ March 26, 2013 June 26, 2013
78

 		Sekhar v. United States, 570 U.S. ___ April 23, 2013 June 26, 2013
79

 		United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ___ March 27, 2013 June 26, 2013
1

2*
2
2

3*
3
# Case name and citation Argued Decided Roberts Scalia Kennedy Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Alito Sotomayor Kagan

2012 term membership and statistics

This was the eighth term of Chief Justice Roberts's tenure and the third term with the current membership.

Justice Appointed by Date confirmed % in majority Opinions filed
Chief Justice John G. Roberts George W. Bush September 29, 2005 86.1%
8

2

1

6

Total=17
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia Ronald Reagan September 26, 1986 78.5%
8

5

1

10

Total=24
Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy February 18, 1988 91.1%
8

5

0

1

Total=14
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas George H. W. Bush October 23, 1991 79.7%
8

11

0

6

Total=25
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Bill Clinton August 10, 1993 78.5%
9

1

0

7

Total=17
Associate Justice Stephen Breyer August 3, 1994 82.1%
8

5

0

5

Total=18
Associate Justice Samuel Alito George W. Bush January 31, 2006 79.5%
8

7

0

8

Total=23
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor Barack Obama August 6, 2009 78.2%
8

3

0

6

Total=17
Associate Justice Elena Kagan August 7, 2010 80.3%
8

2

0

3

Total=13
Notes on statistics:
  • A justice is only included in the majority if they joined or concurred in full in the Court's judgment.
  • Percentages are based only on the cases in which a justice participated and are rounded to the nearest one-tenth of one percentage point.
  • The opinion counts only include the bench opinions listed above; opinions relating to orders and in-chambers opinions are not included.

Notes

  1. ^ Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. was reargued October 1, 2012; it was originally argued February 28, 2012.
  2. ^ In Boyer v. Louisiana, 569 U.S. ___ (2013), the Court dismissed certiorari as improvidently granted.

References

Further reading


Supreme Court of the United States 2012 term (October 1, 2012 - October 6, 2013)
Opinions by justice:
Chief Justice Roberts | Associate Justices Scalia | Kennedy | Thomas | Ginsburg | Breyer | Alito | Sotomayor | Kagan
Lists of cases by Court
List of cases from all Courts (1789–present; large article)
Complete list
By recent term
Other lists