Inside the Supreme Court

Petition to Decision

Papers of Supreme Court Justices on Civil Rights Cases

David Achtenberg

Professor & Law Foundation Scholar

UMKC School of Law

Kansas City, MO 64110-2499

816-235-2382

AchtenbergD@umkc.edu

Collins v. City of Harker Heights

Timeline

          Coverage:  This page is a chronological timeline of the Court’s internal discussion and handling of Collins from the petitioner's earliest filings through the announcement of the decision in the case.  The timeline is divided into four sections which can be accessed through the buttons above or the ones in the yellow navigation area.

         Accessing Documents:  Each event is linked to all the documents in the Blackmun, Brennan, Marshall, and Powell files (as well as some documents from additional sources) that relate to that event.  To access a document, click on its link.  In the illustration below, you would click the link indicated by the red arrow to access the copy of Justice Powell's Opinion log that was found in his files.  (The links do not work on this illustration which is not from the Collins files.  To experiment, go to the timeline itself.) 

          Duplicate Documents:  When more than one copy of a document was found, I have included and linked all copies.  When a particular justice’s copy of a document contains additional annotations or markings, the link to that copy ends with an asterisk.   In the illustration above, the asterisks at the end of the circled entries indicate that both Justice Marshall and Justice Powell (or their clerks) made notes on their respective copies of the first draft of Justice Brennan's majority opinion.

          Abbreviations:  I have abbreviated the names of the justices, their clerks, and a few other persons.  A key to all abbreviations can be accessed by clicking the abbreviations button in the yellow navigation area. 

          Dates:  If the date of an event is unclear, estimated or derived, the date is underlined and the date is linked to an explanation. 

          Higher Resolution Copies:  Most of the documents are presented in comparatively small pdf files which should be adequate for most uses.  Please let me know if you think that any particular image needs to be replaced with a higher resolution version.  I will also be happy to send higher resolution copies (or original JPEGs) of any images to anyone who needs them.  For further information about how the documents were photographed, edited and converted to pdf files, click here to go to the Image Creation and Conversion Protocol Page. 

          Sources and Citation:  For an explanation of how to determine the original archive location of any document, click here to go to the Document Source Page.

	Collins Timeline—Part 1
	Deciding to Grant Review: First Filings to Grant of Certiorari (1/31/91-4/15/91)
			Documents
	Event	Date	HAB	TM	BRW	Other
	Petition for Certiorari filed	01/31/91				Docket
						Petition
	Brief in Opposition filed	03/14/91				Docket
						BIO
	Petition and Brief in Opposition distributed to chambers for April 12, 1991 Conference	03/20/91				Docket
	SDO's clerk IA circulates memo to pool recommending grant of certiorari due to circuit split on important issue	03/25/91	Memo IA to Pool
	TM's clerk JEC writes memo to TM recommending joining 3 based on "fuzzy" circuit split.	03/29/91		Memo JEC to TM
	TM annotates memo from JEC indicating he will join 3.	03/30/91		Memo JEC to TM
	HAB's clerk AJ annotates pool memo.  He recommends denial on the basis that the circuit split is shallow and the case presents the issue on "poor facts."	04/01/91	Memo IA to Pool
	Reply Brief of Petitioner filed	04/01/91				Docket
						Cert Reply
	HAB clerk AJ annotates pool memo in response to reply brief. He recognizes case is certworthy due to split on issue that will recur, but recommends denial because of poor facts.	04/05/91	Memo IA to Pool
	Case discussed in certiorari conference.   WHR, HAB, JPS, & DHS vote to deny.  BRW, AGS, & AMK vote to grant.  TM & SDO vote to join 3.  Certiorari granted.	04/12/91		TM Docket
	Order granting certiorari issued.	04/15/91				Docket
	Collins Timeline—Part 2
	Briefing, Argument & Decision on the Merits (4/15/91-11/8/91)
			Documents
	Event	Date	HAB	TM	BRW	Other
	Record filed	04/15/91				Docket
	Further record filed	05/07/91				Docket
	Petitioner granted additional time until June 18 to file file brief on the merits	05/16/91				Docket
	Brief of Petitioner filed	06/18/91				Docket
						Petitioner Brief
	Joint Appendix filed	06/18/91				Docket
						Jt App
	Brief of Amicus NEA filed	06/18/91				Docket
						Brief NEA
	Brief of Amicus ATLA filed	06/18/91				Docket
						Brief ATLA
	Brief of Amicus ACLU filed	06/18/91				Docket
						Brief ACLU
	Respondent granted additional time until August 9 to file brief on the merits	06/26/91				Docket
	TM announces his retirement effective on qualification of his successor	06/28/91				Retirement Press Conference Video
	Brief of Respondent filed	08/09/91				Docket
						Respondent Brief
	Brief of Amicus National League of Cities filed	08/09/91				Docket
						League Brief
	Briefs circulated to chambers	08/21/91				Docket
	Petitioner applies to extend time for reply brief from September 9 to September 17	08/23/91				Docket
	AGS denies application to extent time for reply brief	08/30/13				Docket
	Case set for argument on November 5, 1991	09/05/91				Docket
	Reply brief filed	09/09/91				Docket
						Reply Brief
	Petitioner moves to supplement record	09/13/91				Docket
	Motion to supplement record granted	10/21/91				Docket
	HAB clerk MM writes bench memo to HAB recommending reversal on the basis that there is no "abuse of governmental power" requirement and remanding to let lower court decide the constitutional deprivation issue.  She discusses the constitutional issue at length and also the question of whether the city should be liable under Monell. She recommends reversal.	10/21/91	Memo MM to HAB
	CT assumes office succeeding TM	10/23/91
	HAB prepares handwritten notes for oral argument suggesting that he wants to reverse on the basis that there is no "abuse of governmental authority" requirement, and remand to let the Court of Appeals initially decide whether there had been a constitutional deprivation.	10/29/91	HAB Pre-Arg Notes
			Transcript
	MM writes memo just before argument that case could be dismissed (perhaps DIG'd)	11/04/91	Memo MM to HAB(2)
	HAB annotates November 4 memo	11/04/91	Memo MM to HAB(2)
	HAB annotates his 10/29/91 handwritten notes suggesting that he now believes the case will have to be affirmed	11/04/91	HAB Pre-Arg Notes Transcript
	Case argued	11/05/91	HAB Arg Notes			Docket
			Transcript			Audio & Transcript
	Case discussed in conference.  Court votes to affirm 7-2.  Majority somewhat split on rationale.	11/08/91	HAB Conf Notes
			Transcript
	Collins Timeline—Part 3
	Drafting the Opinions: From First Drafts to Final Opinions (12/30/91-2/26/92)
			Documents
	Event	Date	HAB	TM	BRW	Other
	JPS circulates first draft of opinion	12/30/91			JPS 1st Draft
	BRW annotates first draft of opinion with note indicating he will dissent.	01/02/92			JPS 1st Draft
	CT writes JPS that he will join opinion	01/02/92	Memo CT to JPS		Memo CT to JPS
	WHR writes JPS that he will join opinion	01/03/92	Memo WHR to JPS		Memo WHR to JPS
	HAB's clerk MM write memo to HAB expressing concerns about JPS opinion and indicating that BRW is considering writing separately.  She disagrees with JPS's rationale although not entirely with the result.	01/05/92	Memo MM to HAB
	SDO writes JPS that she will join opinion	01/08/92	Memo SDO to JPS		Memo SDO to JPS
	JPS circulates second draft of opinion	01/15/92			JPS 2nd Draft
	BRW annotates JPS second draft indicating that he will join	01/16/92			JPS 2nd Draft
	BRW writes JPS that he will join opinion.	01/16/92	Memo BRW to JPS		Memo BRW to JPS
	DHS writes JPS that he will join opinion	01/16/92	Memo DHS to JPS		Memo DHS to JPS
	JPS circulates third draft of opinion	01/23/92	JPS 3rd Draft		JPS 3rd Draft
	AMK writes JPS that he will join opinion but suggests changes to the third sentence of the third paragraph on page 3.	01/27/92	Memo AMK to JPS		Memo AMK to JPS
	HAB writes JPS that he will join opinion	01/27/92	Memo HAB to JPS		Memo HAB to JPS
	JPS circulates fourth draft of opinion incorporating changes suggested by AMK.	01/28/92			JPS 4th Draft
	AGS writes JPS that he will join opinion	01/28/92	Memo AGS to JPS		Memo AGS to JPS
	Decision handed down and opinion announced by JPS	02/26/92				Docket
						Opinion Announcement
	Collins Timeline—Part 4
	After the Decision: Post-Decision Events  (3/27/92-4/16/92)
			Documents
	Event	Date	HAB	TM	BRW	Other
	Judgment issued	03/27/92				Docket
	Record returned to Fifth Circuit	04/16/92				Docket