No. 25-711

Deborah Cooney v. San Diego Gas & Electric, et al.

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-12-18
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: constitutional-rights due-process fourth-amendment free-speech privacy smart-grid
Latest Conference: 2026-02-20
Question Presented (from Petition)

We live in a fast-paced society where technological innovations make possible the most unthinkable forms of trespass. Never before have policy-makers had to confront this issue. Uproar over the revelations of former government contractor, Edward Snowden, has sparked a public policy debate about our national surveillance programs. Similar information technologies are being deployed at the state level for various purposes, such as measuring energy consumption. The Smart Grid is one such program. At the heart of this matter lies the ultimate question of

1. Whether the federally-mandated, federally-funded, state-run Smart Grid violates constitutional rights:
a. By chilling freedom of speech and the right to petition for redress?
b. By violating the Free Exercise Clause and the Religious Freedoms Restoration Act (RFRA)?
c. As an unwarranted search or seizure prohibited by the Fourth Amendment?
d. By usurping private property rights or liberties guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment?
e. By skirting due process of law during its approval, implementation, or oversight?
f. By violating the Right to Privacy?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the federally-mandated Smart Grid violates constitutional rights through potential infringements on privacy, free speech, religious freedom, and property rights

Docket Entries

2026-02-23
Petition DENIED.
2026-01-28
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
2026-01-21
Waiver of right of respondent California Public Utilities Commission to respond filed.
2026-01-20
Waiver of City of Vero Beach and Town of Indian River Shores of right to respond submitted.
2026-01-20
Waiver of right of respondents City of Vero Beach and Town of Indian River Shores to respond filed.
2026-01-07
Waiver of right of respondent CoreCivic, Inc. to respond filed.
2025-12-11
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 20, 2026)

Attorneys

California Public Utilities Commission
Quintin E. LucasOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent
City of Vero Beach and Town of Indian River Shores
Patricia Maria Rego ChapmanDean, Ringers, Morgan & Lawton, P.A., Respondent
CoreCivic, Inc.
Daniel Patrick StruckStruck Love Acedo, PLC, Respondent
Deborah Cooney
Deborah Cooney — Petitioner