Types of opinions rendered by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court may render one of six types of opinions: 2. Majority Opinions A majority opinion reflects the fact that not all of the Justices agree. They may disagree about which party wins the case, or they may agree on who wins but disagree about the reasons why one party wins the case. If five or more justices agree upon a decision, this is called a majority opinion. Note that a majority of the Justices may consist of any number that is more than half of the Justices who hear the case but less than all of the Justices. So we might have a majority of up to eight Justices. You may remember that the decision of the Supreme Court in Near v. Minnesota was a majority decision. Five of the Justices supported Jay Near, while the other four held that the state of Minnesota won the case. But as long as a majority agrees, the party who obtains the majority's supportwins the case. Whenever the Supreme Court issue a majority opinion, one of two things can happen. Either the other Justices agree with the majority's view of the outcome of the case but disagree with the reasons for that outcome, or the other Justices disagree with the majority's view of the outcome of the case. These two possible scenarios will result in two different kinds of opinions. Next

	E-mail the professor Tony Parker at parker@jan.ucc.nau.edu, or call (520)523-2508

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