No. 25-6783

Ronald Gerard Boyajian v. United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2026-02-11
Status: Pending
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: appellate-procedure circuit-uniformity en-banc-review judicial-review mandamus shadow-docket
Latest Conference: 2026-03-20
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Whether a three-judge panel may usurp the authority of the full court of appeals by intercepting and terminating a petition for a writ of mandamus addressed to the en banc court, thereby nullifying the mechanism Congress and this Court have established under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 40 for ensuring circuit uniformity and resolving questions of exceptional importance.

2. Whether a court of appeals' use of unpublished, non-precedential orders to create an intra-circuit conflict on a constitutional question, followed by an ad hoc procedural blockade to prevent en banc review and publication of the conflicting decision, constitutes an abuse of the "appellate shadow docket" that warrants this Court's supervisory intervention.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a three-judge panel may usurp the authority of the full court of appeals by intercepting and terminating a petition for a writ of mandamus, thereby nullifying the mechanism for ensuring circuit uniformity and resolving questions of exceptional importance

Docket Entries

2026-02-26
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/20/2026.
2026-02-20
Waiver of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of right to respond submitted.
2026-02-20
Waiver of right of respondent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to respond filed.
2026-01-23
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 13, 2026)

Attorneys

Ronald Boyajian
Ronald G. Boyajian — Petitioner
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent