majority opinion
10
6.3
- noun
- /məˈdʒɔrɪti əˈpɪnjən/
- Formal
:
opinión mayoritaria
- Justice Stevens wrote the majority opinion, in which Justices O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, and Breyer joined.
- wrote the majority opinion
- majority opinion in that case
- authored the majority opinion
Well, lo and behold, those little dissents often become the majority opinion.
- Well, lo and behold, those little dissents often become the majority opinion.
- I served on the panel and joined in the majority opinion which noted the quote compelling evidence against flagging.
- O contraire he wrote the majority opinion where he squarely put someone above the law.
Examples
-
The Supreme Court, in the majority opinion written by Justice Felix Frankfurter, supported the law.
Academic text (2008) -
But, as an elected official, I must respect the majority opinion, and if I didn't, they wanted their vote back.
Academic text (2005) -
Whenever possible, they included what they believed to be the majority opinion on all subjects considered.
Academic text (2015) -
Only two of the twelve active judges did not author a majority opinion this year.
Academic text (2017) -
At the same time, no active judge authored more than two majority opinions.
Academic text (2017) -
"We start with first principles," Rehnquist wrote in his majority opinion in Lopez.
Academic text (1995) -
Consider, for example, a Supreme Court majority opinion that resolves a case on narrow and highly fact-specific grounds.
Academic text (2017) -
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a case that allowed these companies to prevent farmers from saving their own seed.
-
The Supreme Court, in the majority opinion written by Justice Felix Frankfurter, supported the law.
-
Only two of the twelve active judges did not author a majority opinion this year.
Synonyms
430
4.9
An official written explanation by a judge for a court decision
258
7.0
A written statement by a judge explaining why they decided a case
7
6.1
A written statement by a judge or court explaining why they decided a case
How United
111
4.4
- Formal
10
6.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'majority' (more than half) + 'opinion' (a judge's written explanation) yields an opinion held by the majority of the court. Although it is a legal/technical term, the relation is transparent and mirrors similar constructions in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Majority opinion comes from the simple idea that the view agreed to by the largest group of judges wins. The word majority means 'more than half' and opinion means a judge's view, so a majority opinion is the written view most judges agree on and that explains the court's 'decision'.