Recent Legal Developments

• Author: Jonathan Bolen,Craig Hemmens
• Date: 01 December 2011
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016811428280
• Published date: 01 December 2011
• Subject Matter: Recent Legal Developments

Recent Legal Developments

Recent Legal Developments:

Criminal Justice Decisions of

the United States Supreme

Court, 2010 Term

Craig Hemmens

1

and Jonathan Bolen

2

Abstract

During its 2010 term, the United State Supreme Court decided 28 cases that dealt with a criminal

justice-related issue. While a number of these decisions will have only a slight impact on the daily

administration of justice, there were several significant cases involving criminal justice-related topics

such as search and seizure, interrogations, and sentencing. We present a summary and analysis of

the most significant decisions involving criminal justice. The cases are divided, somewhat roughly,

into categories.

Keywords

Supreme Court, law, court, search and seizure, police

Introduction

During its 2010 term, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 86 cases on the merits. There were 75 signed

opinions, 5 summary reversals, and 2 cases that were affirmed by an equally divide d Court. Twenty-

eight cases at least touched upon a criminal justice-related issue. While a number of these

decisions will have only a slight impact on the daily administration of justice, there were several

significant cases involving criminal justice-related topics such as search and seizure, interroga-

tions, and sentencing.

Forty-five percent (34 of 75) of the Court’s decisions were unanimous judgments (although 20 of

these had at least one concurring opinion), while 10 decisions had only a solo dissent and 12 cases

were decided by a 7-2 vote. Fifteen cases (20%) were decided by a narrow 5-4 margin. This number

is similar to the 2009 term. Unlike the 2009, the line-up of justices in the 5-4 cases was fairly con-

sistent. Justice Kennedy remains a crucial swing vote on the court, moving between a solid four-vote

‘‘conservative’’ bloc consisting of Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito, and

1

Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA

2

Department of Criminal Justice, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA

Corresponding Author:

Craig Hemmens, Missouri State University 901 South National Ave., Springfield, MO 65897

Email: CraigHemmens@MissouriState.edu

Criminal Justice Review

36(4) 533-544

ª2011 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016811428280

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