Lawrence v. Chater (1995)
- Docket
- 94-9323
- Decided
- 1995-01-01
Summary
Question: Does the U.S. Supreme Court have the authority to set aside a lower court's ruling and remand the case without finding that the lower court committed some error? Conclusion: Yes. In a 7-2 per curiam opinion, the Court held that it had the power to issue a GVR order and that such an order is an appropriate exercise of its discretionary certiorari jurisdiction. "In an appropriate case, a GVR order conserves the scarce resources of this Court that might otherwise be expended on plenary consideration, assists the court below by flagging a particular issue that it does not appear to have fully considered, assists this Court by procuring the benefit of the lower court's insight before we rule on the merits, and alleviates the 'potential for unequal treatment' that is inherent in our inability to grant plenary review of all pending cases raising similar issues," stated the unsigned opinion.