PART VIII — DELIBERATION AND DISPOSITION
Rule 71. Decisions, opinions, publication, and precedent
Forms of decision
The Court may dispose of a matter by:
a signed opinion of the Court;
a per curiam opinion;
a memorandum decision applying settled law;
a reasoned order;
a summary affirmance, reversal, vacatur, remand, or dismissal; or
an order denying discretionary review or other relief.
The form used does not enlarge the Court’s jurisdiction or remedial authority.
Required clarity
A merits decision must identify:
the jurisdictional basis and any material jurisdictional limit;
the issues decided;
the controlling facts and standard of review;
the governing law and essential reasoning;
the Court’s holding;
the precise disposition and any remand instruction; and
the participating and recused Justices.
A summary disposition may incorporate controlling authority instead of repeating it, but must state the operative result.
Opinion assignment
After the vote, the Chief Justice assigns preparation of the opinion when participating in the majority. If the Chief Justice is not in the majority, the participating Justice highest in lawful precedence within the majority assigns it. The assigning Justice may retain the opinion or assign it to another Justice in the majority.
Circulation and final vote
A proposed opinion must be circulated to every participating Justice with a reasonable opportunity to respond. A Justice may change a vote before filing. The judgment is determined by the votes at filing, not by an earlier tentative vote.
Time for decision
The Court should file its decision within twenty days after submission. If it cannot, the Clerk must place a nonconfidential status notation on the public register at twenty-day intervals. Delay does not change jurisdiction, imply a result, or authorize disclosure of deliberations.
Majority, plurality, and separate writings
An opinion joined by a majority of participating Justices is the opinion of the Court. If no rationale commands a majority, the Clerk must identify the judgment of the Court and each opinion’s joiners; only a legal proposition necessary to the judgment and agreed to by the required majority is binding. A Justice may file a concurrence, concurrence in the judgment, dissent, or statement respecting an order.
Precedential effect
A filed opinion of the Court, including a per curiam opinion, is binding precedent unless its first page designates it nonprecedential under subdivision (h), or it is later overruled by the Court or displaced by controlling law.
A memorandum decision or reasoned order is precedential only if it expressly says so.
A summary disposition binds the parties and lower tribunal but is precedential only for the proposition necessarily decided and only when the order identifies that proposition.
An equally divided disposition, denial of discretionary review, un-explained procedural order, stay decision, or denial of rehearing has no precedential effect unless an accompanying majority opinion decides a legal issue.
A separate writing is persuasive but not the holding of the Court.
No nonpublic decision may operate as secret precedent. If law requires protection, the Court must publish a redacted version sufficient to disclose any rule of law intended to bind future cases.
Publication designation
A reasoned merits opinion should be published. The Court may designate a disposition nonprecedential only when it applies settled law, creates no new rule, resolves no conflict, and presents no issue of continuing public importance. The designation must appear on the first page. Mere withholding from the ECMS or temporary delay in public release does not determine precedential status.
Citation to a decision
A party must cite a decision according to Rule 14(d) and disclose a subsequent correction, superseding opinion, grant of rehearing, or loss of precedential force known to the party. A syllabus, headnote, search summary, or automated digest is not an opinion of the Court.