No. 25-795

Montgomery Blair Sibley v. Chauncey J. Watches, Judge, Steuben County, New York, et al.

Lower Court: Second Circuit
Docketed: 2026-01-07
Status: Pending
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: due-process equal-protection in-forma-pauperis judicial-immunity petition-clause second-amendment
Key Terms:
SocialSecurity DueProcess JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2026-02-20
Question Presented (from Petition)

WHETHER federal in forma pauperis litigants may be significantly denied immediate access to Court while filing-fee paying litigants suffer no such constraints as the Second Circuit has here below tacitly approved?

WHETHER New York's handgun licensing substantive law and licensing adjudicative practices denied Petitioner: (i) his Second Amendment rights, (ii) due process and (iii) equal protection?

WHETHER the Second Circuit's refusal to address significant issues raised by Petitioner by summarily claiming those issues were "without merit" impermissibly trespassed upon Petitioner's right to "petition" and be meaningfully "heard" and thereby breached the settled principle that litigants in similar situations should be treated the same, a fundamental component of stare decisis and the rule of law?

WHETHER the corrigendum of 42 United States Code §1983 required by the "separation-of-powers" principle and intellectual integrity obligates this Court to reconsider the scope of the judge-made doctrine of judicial immunity stated in Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 554 (1967)?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether federal in forma pauperis litigants may be significantly denied immediate access to Court while filing-fee paying litigants suffer no such constraints as the Second Circuit has here below tacitly approved?

Docket Entries

2026-02-04
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
2026-01-28
Waiver of Watches, Judge, et al. of right to respond submitted.
2026-01-28
Waiver of right of respondent Watches, Judge, et al. to respond filed.
2025-12-03
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 6, 2026)

Attorneys

Montgomery Blair Sibley
Montgomery Blair Sibley — Petitioner
Watches, Judge, et al.
Barbara Dale UnderwoodNew York Solicitor General, Respondent