per curiam (unsigned opinion)

A per curiam opinion, Latin for “by the court,” is a ruling issued in the name of the court as a whole rather than attributed to an individual authoring judge. Per curiam and other unsigned opinions are often brief and are sometimes used for emergency or summary dispositions, though individual judges may still file concurrences or dissents, and the form can obscure how each member voted. In Margolin v. National Association of Immigration Judges (2026), the Supreme Court reversed a lower court through a short, unsigned opinion, while Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, filed a separate concurrence.