William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

514 Chapter 14Chapter 14 || The CourtsThe Courts

to 39 percent in the 2017–2018 term.^60 Second, dissents serve an important purpose.

Not only do they allow the minority view to be expressed, but they also often provide

the basis later on for reversing a poorly reasoned case. When justices strongly oppose

the majority opinion, they may take the unusual step of reading a portion of the dissent

from the bench.

Types of Supreme Court Decisions

• Majority opinion: The core decision of the Court that must
  be agreed upon by at least five justices. The majority opin-
  ion presents the legal reasoning for the Court’s decision.


• Concurring opinion: Written by a justice who agrees
  with the outcome of the case but not with part of the legal
  reasoning. Concurring opinions may be joined by other
  justices. A justice may sign on to the majority opinion and
  write a separate concurring opinion.


• Plurality opinion: Occurs when a majority cannot agree
  on the legal reasoning in a case. The plurality opinion is
  the one that has the most agreement (usually three or four
  justices). Because of the fractured nature of these opinions,
  they typically are not viewed as having as much clout as
  majority opinions.
  
  
  • Dissent: Submitted by a justice who disagrees with the
    outcome of the case. Other justices can sign on to a dis-
    sent or write their own, so there can be as many as four
    dissents. Justices can also sign on to part of a dissent but
    not the entire opinion.
  
  
  • Per curiam (Latin for “by the court”) opinion: An
    unsigned opinion of the Court or a decision written by the
    entire Court. However, this is not the same as a unanimous
    decision that is signed by the entire Court. Per curiam opin-
    ions are usually very short opinions on noncontroversial
    issues, but not always. For example, Bush v. Gore, which
    decided the outcome of the 2000 presidential election,
    was a per curiam opinion. Per curiam decisions may also
    have dissents.
  
  
  
  

NUTS

& B O LT S

14.3

“Why

Should

I Care?”

The process of hearing cases before the Court, including the written briefs, oral

arguments, discussions in conference, and opinion assignment, is a very political one.

As discussed in the chapter opener, it may be disturbing to think of the Court as a

political institution that bargains and considers external forces like public opinion.

Although justices do not have to answer to voters, they are still sensitive to a broad

range of considerations in hearing cases.

Supreme Court Decision Making

Judicial decision making is influenced by many different factors, but the two main

categories are legal and political. Legal factors include the precedents of earlier cases

and the norm that justices must follow the language of the Constitution. Political

influences include the justices’ preferences or ideologies, their stances on whether the

Court should take a restrained or activist role with respect to the elected branches, and

external factors such as public opinion and interest group involvement. Most observers

ANALYZE THE FACTORS THAT

INFLUENCE SUPREME COURT

DECISIONS

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