When the Supreme Court rules on a case, how many opinions might be written to explain the verdict?

A Supreme Court decision can produce several written opinions: the majority opinion, concurring opinions from justices who agree with the result for different reasons, and dissenting opinions. In principle, all nine justices could write opinions, and opinions may be cited in later cases. However, the majority opinion establishes the Court’s ruling and is the binding law; the other opinions are not binding precedent. So the best answer is nine possible opinions, with only the majority opinion considered law.

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