Reinink v. Hart presented an excessive force claim under the Fourth Amendment. The case was rescheduled three times and relisted after eight conferences. On May 26, the Court finally denied certiorari. But there was an unusual notation:
Petition DENIED. Justice Thomas and Justice Alito would grant the petition and summarily reverse for essentially the reasons given in Judge Larsen's separate opinion. See Hart v. Grand Rapids, 138 F. 4th 409, 426–428 (CA6 2025).
It is not uncommon for a Justice to dissent from the denial of certiorari, and maintain they would have summarily reversed the lower court. I found eleven such cases since 2012. But in each such case, the dissenting Justice authored an opinion explaining why he or she would have SumRev'd.
