majority opinion
(Officially call the Opinion of the Court)
Majority opinion - Also called the "Opinion of the Court," this is the official verdict in the case that represents the vote of the majority of justicesPlurality opinion - In a case where no opinion received majority support, a plurality is the opinion joined by the most justices
The Supreme Court must have a simple majority to render a decision in a case.
For a majority ruling on the Supreme Court, a minimum of five out of the nine justices must agree. This is because a majority decision requires more than half of the justices to support a particular outcome or opinion. It is necessary to have a majority in order to establish a binding decision for the Court.
Yes, a simple majority of the justices is enough to render a Court opinion. In the U.S. Supreme Court, for example, there are nine justices, and a majority vote of at least five justices is required to decide a case and issue a written opinion.
For a case to be heard before the U. S. Supreme Court there must be a quorum. This requires at least six Justices to be present. There is a total of nine Justices on the Supreme Court but illness or recusals could cause less than 9 on a case. For a decision to be rendered it requires a majority of the Justices hearing the case. If all Justices are present the majority would require 5 or more to met this requirement.
how the justices account for the views of other justices when deciding how to act
There are currently 9 Supreme Court Justices, so for there to be a majority ruling, 5 would have to rule a certain way.
The majority opinion
The Supreme Court requires a simple majority for a majority decision. Under normal circumstances, this would mean at least five of the nine justices must agree. There have been occasions, however, when fewer than nine justices sat on a case.The Court requires a quorum of six justices to hear a case. A simple majority of six is only four; therefore, it's important to note the correct answer is "simple majority," not necessarily five.
AnswerIf all nine justices hear a case, a simple majority of five must agree on a decision.ExplanationA decision requires a simple majority of the Justices hearing the case (sometimes fewer than nine justices are available). In the typical instance that all nine Supreme Court justices provide an opinion, a majority must consist of at least five votes; if eight justices are present, a decision still requires five votes; if six or seven justices are present, a decision requires at least four votes.
A decision or opinion to which most justices agree may be called a "majority decision" or "majority opinion". When a majority agreeing to a single point-of-view issues a unified written decision, the term is "opinion of the Court."
Flaws in the majority opinion