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Description and Holding Information
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1925-2000, Supreme Court, Opinions in Chamber, 2000
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A Collection of In Chambers Opinions by the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1925–2000: compilation, introduction and indexes by Cynthia Rapp, Staff Attorney, Office of the Clerk, Vol. 1–3, 1,391 continuous pagination, with annual dividers by term, n.p., (Sup. Ct., Off. of the Clerk?), July 2001, all published. (The opinions are arranged in chronological order: V.1, 1925-67; V.2, 1967-79; V.3, 1979-2000. All of the indexes are in the front pages of V.1, pp. i-lxv. “In Chambers Opinions” are the opinions of individual justices acting in their role of Circuit Justice in the particular federal circuit to which they have been assigned. In that role, at present, they handle applications for bail, certificates of appealability, extensions of time, injunctions and stays of executions and judgments. In earlier years the individual justices also handled applications for writs of habeas corpus and writs of error and appeal. The latter are now reserved to action by the whole Court. In chambers opinions were usually written in a very short time frame, often at odd hours, without benefit of consultation with the other justices. Most were just a couple of pages, although some are longer; the longest, 16 pp., being one written by Chief Justice Rehnquist in 1972 in response to a request that he recuse himself in the case of Laird v. Tatum, 409 U.S. 824. In Chambers opinions were not reported in a routine manner until the 1969 Term, when they began appearing in the U.S. Reports. Prior to that time those that became available were found only in the unofficial Supreme Court reporters. This is the first semi-official compilation of these opinions, some of which were found in the files of the Clerk’s Office, and others of which were found in the Court’s archives. The opinions are of interest to historians principally for the unique opportunity they provide for studying the reasoning of individual justices sans input from the rest of the Court. Many also reveal or give insight into important issues of the time. Others reveal certain facts about the Court’s internal operations that are not available in other literature. Thus for example, then-Justice Rehnquist, in Cousins v. Wigoda, 409 U.S. 1201 {1972, Rapp. V.1, p. 530} discusses the three instances in modern times when the court held special sessions.)
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Title:
A collection of in chambers opinions by the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1926-2001 / compiled by Cynthia Rapp, July 2001.
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OCLC Number:
646140469
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Available Volumes
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