2015 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States

[1] Because per curiam decisions are issued from the Court as an institution, these opinions all lack the attribution of authorship or joining votes to specific justices.

The Court ruled that it found no support for the lower court's conclusion that Kulbicki's defense attorneys were constitutionally required to predict the demise of CBLA: "Counsel did not perform deficiently by dedicating their time and focus to elements of the defense that did not involve poking methodological holes in a then-uncontroversial mode of ballistics analysis."

The Court granted qualified immunity to Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Chadrin Mullenix, who killed suspect Israel Leija, Jr. as he was fleeing officers during a high-speed chase.

During the pursuit which reached up to 110 miles per hour, Leija twice called police stating that he had a gun and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to stop him.

As several officers set up spike strips along the route, Mullenix decided to shoot at Leija's car as an alternative attempt to disable it.

His superior told Mullenix to "stand by" and wait to see if the spike strips work, but he claimed that he did not hear this order.

Sotomayor filed a dissent, citing the fact that Mullenix was not properly trained to use a rifle in this type of situation, he fired less than a second before the car hit the spike strip, and did not follow the order to "stand by."

The juror in question was excused on the basis that he could not provide sufficient answers as to whether he could be neutral or impartial in considering the death penalty in the case.

The Ninth Circuit did not properly apply the standard established in Fifth Third v. Dudenhoeffer regarding provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Louisiana prosecutors violated Michael Wearry's due process rights when they failed to disclose evidence supporting his innocence in a murder case.

Third, Fifth, Tenth, and District of Columbia Circuits vacated and remanded for reconsideration, in light of the "positions asserted by the parties in their supplemental briefs," on whether religious institutions other than churches should be exempt from the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act.

Sotomayor filed a dissent, joined by Ginsburg, arguing that applying the Ylst test should have affirmed the Ninth Circuit ruling.

The Ninth Circuit previously held that California's "Dixon Bar" (which states that a defendant procedurally defaults a claim raised for the first time on state collateral review if he could have raised it earlier on direct appeal) is inadequate to bar federal habeas review.