2015 term United States Supreme Court opinions of Clarence Thomas

The 2015 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 5, 2015, and concluded October 2, 2016. This was the twenty-fifth term of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas's tenure on the Court.
Clarence Thomas 2015 term statistics 7 Majority or Plurality 16 Concurrence 0 Other 25 Dissent 1 Concurrence/dissent Total = 49 Bench opinions = 39 Opinions relating to orders = 10 In-chambers opinions = 0 Unanimous opinions: 2 Most joined by: Alito (13 in full, 1 in part) Least joined by: Scalia, Ginsburg (4)[1]

Type	Case	Citation	Issues	Joined by	Other opinions
	New Hampshire Right to Life v. Department of Health and Human Services	577 U.S. ___ (2015)	Freedom of Information Act	Scalia
Thomas dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari.
	Friedman v. Highland Park	577 U.S. ___ (2015)	Second Amendment  • right to keep and bear arms  • municipal ban on semiautomatic firearms and high-capacity magazines	Scalia
Thomas dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari.
	DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia	577 U.S. ___ (2015)	Federal Arbitration Act		Breyer Ginsburg
	Montanile v. Board of Trustees of Nat. Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974  • equitable remedies for plan enforcement	Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan; Alito (in part)	Ginsburg
	Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	Article III  • Case or Controversy Clause  • effect of unaccepted settlement offer or offer of judgment on mootness  • Telephone Consumer Protection Act  • liability of federal contractor		Ginsburg Roberts Alito
	Montgomery v. Louisiana	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	Eighth Amendment  • mandatory life imprisonment of minors  • retroactivity of new constitutional rules		Kennedy Scalia
	Musacchio v. United States	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	challenge to sufficiency of evidence based on incorrect jury instructions  • waiver of statute of limitations	Unanimous
	California Building Industry Assn. v. San Jose	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	ordinance requiring new developments include low income housing  • Fifth Amendment  • Takings Clause
Thomas concurred in the Court's denial of 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 Breyer Ginsburg
	American Freedom Defense Initiative v. King County	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	First Amendment  • free speech  • public forum doctrine  • advertising in public transit areas	Alito
Thomas dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari.
	Nebraska v. Colorado	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	discretion to decline original jurisdiction suits  • Colorado Amendment 64	Alito
Thomas dissented from the Court's denial of leave to file complaint.
	Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938  • certification of class action  • compensibility for varying times spent donning and doffing protective gear	Alito	Kennedy Roberts
	Nebraska v. Parker	577 U.S. ___ (2016)	Omaha Indian Reservation  • diminishment of reservation boundaries	Unanimous[2]
	Luis v. United States	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	pretrial asset freezing  • Sixth Amendment  • right to counsel of one's choice		Breyer Kennedy Kagan
	Evenwel v. Abbott	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	legislative redistricting based on total state population  • Fourteenth Amendment  • Equal Protection Clause  • one person, one vote doctrine		Ginsburg Alito
	Kakarala v. Wells Fargo Bank, N. A.	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	federal court review of orders remanding cases to state court
Thomas dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari.
	Welch v. United States	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Armed Career Criminal Act  • retroactive effect of court decision on collateral review		Kennedy
	Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing, LLC	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Federal Power Act  • interstate wholesale electricity rates  • federal preemption		Ginsburg Sotomayor
	Arrigoni Enterprises, LLC. v. Durham	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fifth Amendment  • Takings Clause  • exhaustion of remedies under state procedures	Kennedy
Thomas dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari.
	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	Alito	Breyer
	Ocasio v. United States	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Hobbs Act  • conspiracy		Alito Breyer Sotomayor
	Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970  • Article III  • injury-in-fact		Alito Ginsburg
	Husky Int’l Electronics, Inc. v. Ritz	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	bankruptcy law  • Chapter 7  • discharge exception for actual fraud		Sotomayor
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Manning	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Securities Exchange Act of 1934  • removal jurisdiction  • federal question jurisdiction	Sotomayor	Kagan
	United Student Aid Funds, Inc. v. Bible	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	administrative law  • deference to agency interpretation
Thomas dissented from the denial of certiorari.
	CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. EEOC	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Title VII  • award of attorney's fees to prevailing party		Kennedy
	Betterman v. Montana	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Sixth Amendment  • Speedy Trial Clause  • postconviction delay in sentencing	Alito	Ginsburg Sotomayor
	Foster v. Chatman	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fourteenth Amendment  • Equal Protection Clause  • racial discrimination in juror peremptory challenges  • adequate and independent state ground		Roberts Alito
	Green v. Brennan	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Title VII  • constructive discharge  • statute of limitations		Sotomayor Alito
	Adams v. Alabama	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Eighth Amendment  • mandatory life imprisonment of minors  • retroactivity of new constitutional rules	Alito	Alito Sotomayor
Thomas concurred in the Court's decision to grant certiorari, vacate the lower court's opinion, and remand.
	Lynch v. Arizona	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fourteenth Amendment  • Due Process Clause  • death penalty  • right to inform jury at sentencing of parole ineligibility	Alito	per curiam
	Ross v. Blake	578 U.S. ___ (2016)	Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995  • exhaustion of remedies		Kagan Breyer
	Williams v. Pennsylvania	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fourteenth Amendment  • Due Process Clause  • judicial recusal due to prior involvement as prosecutor		Kennedy Roberts
	Dietz v. Bouldin	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	district court recall of jury in civil case after discharge	Kennedy	Sotomayor
	Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Double Jeopardy Clause  • sovereignty of Puerto Rico		Kagan Ginsburg Breyer
	Puerto Rico v. Franklin Cal. Tax-Free Trust	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	bankruptcy law  • preemption of municipal bankruptcy laws  • Puerto Rican government-debt crisis	Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer, Kagan	Sotomayor
	United States v. Bryant	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	federal crime of domestic violence in Indian lands  • tribal court conviction as predicate offense  • Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968  • Sixth Amendment  • Assistance of Counsel Clause  • Fifth Amendment  • Due Process Clause		Ginsburg
	Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006  • Department of Defense contracting with veteran-owned small businesses	Unanimous[2]
	Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	False Claims Act  • implied false certification theory  • failure to disclose noncompliance with legal requirements	Unanimous[2]
	Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fair Labor Standards Act  • overtime exemption for automobile service advisors	Alito	Kennedy Ginsburg
	Utah v. Strieff	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fourth Amendment  • exclusionary rule  • attenuation doctrine	Roberts, Kennedy, Breyer, Alito	Sotomayor Kagan
	Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Leahy-Smith America Invents Act  • appealability of decision to conduct inter partes review		Breyer Alito
	Taylor v. United States	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Hobbs Act  • robbery of drug dealers as satisfaction of commerce requirement		Alito
	Fisher v. University of Tex. at Austin	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fourteenth Amendment  • Equal Protection Clause  • affirmative action  • race-conscious college admissions program		Kennedy Alito
	Birchfield v. North Dakota	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fourth Amendment  • search incident to arrest  • drunk driving  • implied consent to breathalyzer or blood alcohol content tests		Alito Sotomayor
	Mathis v. United States	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Armed Career Criminal Act  • sentence enhancement for prior convictions		Kagan Kennedy Breyer Alito
	Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	Fourteenth Amendment  • abortion  • regulation of abortion providers  • Texas Senate Bill 5  • res judicata		Breyer Ginsburg Alito
	Voisine v. United States	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	federal criminal law  • prohibition on firearm ownership for misdemeanor domestic violence conviction  • Second Amendment	Sotomayor (in part)	Kagan
	Delaware Strong Families v. Denn	579 U.S. ___ (2016)	First Amendment  • campaign finance reform  • mandated disclosure of anonymous donors
Thomas dissented from the Court's denial of certiorari.

Notes

1. All but eight of Thomas's opinions were issued after Justice Scalia's death.
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 June 29, 2016.
• 2015 Term Opinions Relating to Orders, Supreme Court of the United States, retrieved June 29, 2016.
• 2015 Term In-Chambers Opinions, Supreme Court of the United States, retrieved June 29, 2016.