Supreme Court decisions for 2/28/23 - Justice Jackson's first majority opinion comes in an original jurisdiction case, plus a Bank Secrecy Act case

Two cases came down today.

First the Bank Secrecy Act case.

Link to the Opinion of the Court in Bittner v United States.

Holding: The Bank Secrecy Act’s $10,000 maximum penalty for the nonwillful failure to file a compliant report accrues on a per-report, not a per-account, basis.

Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 5-4, in an opinion by Justice Gorsuch on February 28, 2023. Justice Gorsuch announced the judgment of the court, and delivered the opinion of the court except as to Part II–C. Justice Jackson joined that opinion in full, and Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito and Kavanaugh joined except for Part II–C. Justice Barrett filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Thomas, Sotomayor, and Kagan joined.

Somewhat fractured here, though the judgement favors Respondent/Defendant Bittner, who will now face a considerably lower total fine. Again, the left/right divide was totally scrambled here. :smile:

Link to Opinion of the Court in Delaware v Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. (Original Jurisdiction case.)

Holding: Recommendations in the Special Master’s First Interim Report concluding that the escheatment of certain financial instruments relevant to this case should follow the Federal Disposition Act are adopted to the extent they are consistent with the court’s opinion, and Delaware’s objections are overruled.

Judgment: Remanded, 9-0, in an opinion by Justice Jackson on February 28, 2023. Justice Jackson delivered the opinion for a unanimous court with respect to Parts I, II, III, and IV–A, and the opinion of the court with respect to Part IV–B, in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Kavanaugh joined.

It appears that Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Barrett did not join in Part IV-B of the Opinion of the Court, but joined in the rest of the Opinion of the Court. However, they did not write separately either or dissent to that section, just did not join it.

This constitutes Justice Jackson’s first majority Opinion.