A per curiam decision (or opinion) is a ruling handed down by a court with multiple judges in which the decision was made by the court acting as a whole, as opposed to statements made by individual judges. The literal meaning of this legal term is "by the court". This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A trial at the Old Bailey in London as drawn by Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Pugin for Ackermanns Microcosm of London (1808-11). ...

Most decisions on the merits by the U.S. Supreme Court (and other appellate courts in the U.S.) take the form of one or more opinions signed by individual justices (and joined in by others). Even when such signed opinions are unanimous, they are not termed "per curiam." "Per curiam" decisions are given that label by the Court itself and tend to be short. Usually, though not always, they deal with issues the Court views as relatively non-controversial. However, per curiam opinions are not necessarily unanimous and are sometimes accompanied by dissenting opinions. E.g., Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000). Bush v. Gore is unique in its use of a "per curiam" decision because it has been alleged that none of the justices wanted to be associated with its authorship, given the highly-charged politics of the 2000 Presidential election.^[1][2] Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries  Atlas  Politics Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym... Holding In the circumstances of this case, any manual recount of votes seeking to meet the December 12 “safe harbor” deadline would be unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. ... In the United States presidential election of 2000 Republican George W. Bush gained the US Presidency over Democrat Al Gore on December 12, 2000 in the United States Supreme Court case Bush v. ...

The top appellate courts of most states (e.g., Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina) use the same terminology. Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  Ranked 30th  - Total 52,419 sq mi (135,765 km²)  - Width 190 miles (306 km)  - Length 330 miles (531 km)  - % water 3. ... Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Largest metro area Little Rock Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 29th  - Total 53,179 sq mi (137,002 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 261 miles (420 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Largest metro area Hartford Area  Ranked 48th  - Total 5,543[2] sq mi (14,356 km²)  - Width 70 miles (113 km)  - Length 110 miles (177 km)  - % water 12. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami metropolitan area Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... Official language(s) None (English and French de facto) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N  - Longitude 75° 03′ W to 79° 29... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Largest metro area Omaha Area  Ranked 16th  - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Carson City Largest city Las Vegas Area  Ranked 7th  - Total 110,567 sq mi (286,367 km²)  - Width 322 miles (519 km)  - Length 490 miles (788 km)  - % water 0. ... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ...

Examples

• Hayburn's Case, 2 U.S. 409 (1792)
• Ex parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1 (1942)
• Ray v. Blair, 343 U.S. 214 (1952)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971)
• Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972)
• Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Los Angeles County v. Rettele, 550 U.S. __ (2007)

Holding Non-judicial duties cannot be assigned to federal courts in their official capacity. ... Holding The Court upheld the jurisdiction of a United States military tribunal over the trial of several German saboteurs in the United States. ... Ray v. ... Holding Ohios criminal syndicalism statute violated the First Amendment, as applied to the state through the Fourteenth, because it broadly prohibited the mere advocacy of violence rather than the constitutionally unprotected incitement to imminent lawless action. ... Holding In order to exercise prior restraint, the Government must show sufficient evidence that the publication would cause a “grave and irreparable” danger. ... Holding The arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. ... Holding --- Court membership Case opinions Laws applied --- Buckley v. ... Holding Since the Fourth Amendment allows warrants to issue on probable cause (a standard well short of absolute certainty), an individuals rights are not violate when officers execute a valid warrant in a reasonable manner, even though the individual was engaging in private, non-criminal activity. ...

See also

• By the Court opinions of the Supreme Court of Canada

Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada have the option of releasing a unanimous opinion anonymously by simply attributing the judgment to The Court. The practice was begun in around 1979 by Chief Justice Laskin, borrowing from the US Supreme Court practice of anonymizing certain unanimous decisions. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20010205&s=bugliosi
2. ^ http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/sctsuicide.html