Federal Judiciary

Today’s opinions

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

The Court issued three opinions today:

In Jones v. Harris Associates (08-586), the Court vacates and remands in a unanimous opinion by Justice Alito.  Justice Thomas concurs.  The Court embraces what is called the “Gartenberg standard” on the degree to which investment advisers to mutual funds control the fees they pay for investments advice.

The Court again rules unanimously in Berghuis v. Smith (08-1402), reversing the lower court judgment and remanding the case in an opinion by Justice Ginsburg.  Justice Thomas concurs.  The Court declines to adopt an explicit standard to determine whether a minority group has been excluded from the opportunity to serve on jury duty.

Finally, in Graham County Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. U.S. ex rel. Wilson (08-304), the Court reversed and remanded, on a 7-2 vote.  Justice Stevens writes the majority opinion, while Justice Scalia concurs in part and concurs in the judgment and Justice Sotomayor dissents, joined by Justice Breyer.  The majority holds that lawsuits under the Federal False Claims Act seeking to recover federal funds that have been misspent are barred if the information used in the lawsuits came from state or local agencies’ reports or audits.

CORRECTION: The original description in this post of the ruling in Graham County Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. U.S. ex rel. Wilson was the exact reverse of the decision.  The Court did not rule that such lawsuits “may proceed,” but that they are “barred.”

The full texts of the opinions follow the jump.

Jones v. Harris Associates, No. 08-586

Berghuis v. Smith, No. 08-1402

Graham County Soil & Water Conservatin District v. US Ex Rel. Wilson, No. 08-304

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on March 30, 2010 (boomark / email).