opinions of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court presents its decisions on cases to the public through written opinions. The opinions announce the outcomes of cases decided by the Court and provide the legal reasoning in support of the decisions.

When the chief justice is part of the majority opinion on a case, he may either write the Court's opinion himself or assign it to another justice in the majority group. When the chief justice is not part of the Court's majority, the most senior associate justice in the majority group assigns the task of writing the opinion. The writing of minority or dissenting opinions is not assigned. The justices who wish to write them merely assume this responsibility voluntarily.

When the justice assigned to write the Court's opinion completes a first draft, the opinion is distributed to the other eight justices, who may join the opinion. Sometimes, the opinion is modified to satisfy one or more justices, who otherwise will not sign it. These differences and compromises are discussed among the justices in meetings and in written messages in response to drafts of opinions that have been circulated.

If a justice agrees with the Court's decision but disagrees somewhat with the written opinion of the Court, he or she may write a concurring opinion, one that reaches the same conclusion but using different legal reasoning. Justices who disagree with the Court's decision on a case may write a dissenting opinion.

See also Concurring opinion; Dissenting opinion; Majority opinion; Per curiam; Plurality opinion; Seriatim opinions