ctdonath
Member
The latest buzz about Heller is the possibility that the result will be a plurality opinion. From SCOTUSblog:
In the interest of rescuing another discussion from threadjacking, I'm copying the key points here:10:39 Jason Harrow - Clarification: while it appears that Justice Scalia has the principle opinion in the Guns case, it is not necessarily a majority opinion. It could be a plurality opinion.
BlisteringSilence writes:Originally Posted by answers.com
The U.S. Supreme Court decides cases by majority vote; more than half of the justices participating must vote in favor of the decision. If the justices in the majority agree to sign a single opinion, they produce a majority opinion for the Court. Now and then, however, there are so many individual concurring opinions that the opinion that garners the most votes is called not a majority opinion but a plurality opinion.
For example, in Dennis v. United States (1951), the Court decided the case by a vote of 6 to 2 (one justice did not participate). Two justices wrote separate concurring opinions and thereby made it impossible for there to be a single majority opinion for the Court. Instead, there was a plurality opinion (signed by four justices), supported in many respects by two justices' concurring opinions, and opposed by the other two justices' dissenting opinions. Thus, Chief Justice Vinson announced the decision of the Court based on a plurality opinion.
Have at it.In other words, the decision of the lower court is upheld, but the reason for such is not agreed upon by a majority of the court (5 or more), but simply a plurality of the court (3 or more). If you agree with the decision, but not with the reasoning for such decision, and you write a concurring opinion, you can still vote for the affirmation of the decision (the district court's decision is upheld), but not agree with the majority opinion (which is widely believed to be written by Justice Scalia).
What it means is that the case thats decided doesn't really get entered into the canon of law, as the SCOTUS gives no majority guidance to the underlying courts.