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 Home
 
Timeline
Part 1
 
Timeline
Part 2
 
Timeline
Part 3
 
Timeline
Part 4
 
Abbreviations
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Collins v. City of Harker Heights

Timeline

 

 Part 1
Deciding to Grant Review
First Filings to Grant of Certiorari
Part 2
Briefing, Argument & Decision on the Merits
Grant of Certiorari to First Conference
Part 3
Drafting the Opinions
F
irst Drafts to Final Decisions
Part 4
After the Decision
Petition for Rehearing and Post Decision Events

 

          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 Home
 
Timeline
Part 1
 
Timeline
Part 2
 
Timeline
Part 3
 
Timeline
Part 4
 
Abbreviations
 

 

 

Collins Home
 
Timeline
Part 1
 
Timeline
Part 2
 
Timeline
Part 3
 
Timeline
Part 4
 
Abbreviations
 

 

 

Collins Home
 
Timeline
Part 1
 
Timeline
Part 2
 
Timeline
Part 3
 
Timeline
Part 4
 
Abbreviations
 

 

 

Collins Home
 
Timeline
Part 1
 
Timeline
Part 2
 
Timeline
Part 3
 
Timeline
Part 4
 
Abbreviations
 

 

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

 

 

Notes to Timeline Dates
Date Explanation
03/30/91 Date estimated based on date of memo and date of certiorari conference.  
11/04/91 Date estimated based on date of memo
  01/02/92 Date estimated based on date of draft  
01/16/92 Date estimated based on date of draft circulation and date of BRW's memo to JPS indicating that he will join