discretion

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Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-581 St. Mary Catholic Parish, Littleton, Colorado, et al. v. Lisa Roy, in Her Official Capacity as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, et al. Tenth Circuit 2025-11-17 Pending Amici (23)Response RequestedResponse Waived constitutional-law discretion employment-division-v-smith general-applicability religious-freedom secular-conduct Colorado's so-called universal preschool program pays for families to send their children to the preschool of their choice, public or private. To part…
25-6116 Frank Iglesias v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-11-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure discretion early-termination ninth-circuit sentencing supervised-release Did the Ninth Circuit abused it's discretion in finding that Petitioner is not entitled to shortening or terminating supervised release of his sentenc…
25-5216 Ricardo L. Noble v. Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 2025-07-29 Denied IFP abuse-of-discretion counsel discretion drug-addiction ineffective-assistance legal-representation Did Court abuse discretion by Not agreeing With Fact that, at Juvenile Lifer appellant's Resentencing iN 2ol8, pesenten cing gudge Yecanted the only F…
23-7281 Alicia Marie Richards v. Ryal W. Richards California 2024-04-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP 28-usc-1446 civil-procedure discretion federal-jurisdiction remand remand-petition removal removal-statute state-court-proceedings subject-matter-jurisdiction 1. Whether the court had subject matter jurisdiction after the removal to the District Court? 2. Whether "the state court shall proceed no further u…
23-6697 Jorge Hernandez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2024-02-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review civil-procedure court-reasoning discretion due-process judicial-discretion mandate mandate-recall motion-denial procedural-due-process reasoning In order to permit meaningful appellate review of whether a court properly exercised its discretion, a court must provide at least a brief statement o…
23-6675 Pietro Pasquale Antonio Sgromo v. Timothy Ryan, Judge, Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County, et al. Arizona 2024-02-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-procedure contract-law discretion equity-principles judicial-discretion litigation public-policy rescission settlement-agreement settlement-agreements 1. Does public policy strongly favor settlement of disputes without litigation; or do Courts have discretion to not enforce settlement agreements? 2.…
23-6596 Kenneth Roshaun Reid v. United States District Court for the District of South Carolina Fourth Circuit 2024-01-26 Dismissed Response WaivedIFP board-of-immigration-appeals child-status-protection-act criminal-procedure discretion discretionary-review fair-sentencing-act immigration-law plain-error priority-date retroactivity sentencing statutory-interpretation Question not identified.
23-6208 Pleadro J. Scott v. Miami Dade County, Florida, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2023-12-08 Denied Relisted (2)IFP advocacy appellate-process appellate-review case-law civil-procedure court-procedure discretion due-process incomplete-record judicial-review legal-interpretation statutory-construction L. XT A b£- bJT-M- &F £>u£- ^/2-cC^iir F<&R. A n^xspT fiPP&ALs T-o FATL Tz, rprfcB cnteTcZ^At aj<*7Z^£: gF Ab^bX^-AZTSSF fac^s at uF<n~^> &y a pn-Fr…
23-565 Hasbro, Inc., et al. v. Markham Concepts, Inc., et al. First Circuit 2023-11-27 Denied attorneys-fees circuit-split copyright copyright-act-section-505 copyright-law discretion judicial-discretion kirtsaeng-standard kirtsaeng-v-john-wiley prevailing-party What is the appropriate standard for awarding attorneys' fees to a prevailing party under Section 505 of the Copyright Act?
23-414 Devon Archer v. United States Second Circuit 2023-10-19 Denied Amici (1) circuit-split criminal-procedure discretion judicial-discretion manifest-injustice new-trial new-trial-standard rule-33 second-circuit weight-of-evidence 1. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33 permits a district court to order a new trial "if the interest of justice so requires." The district court he…
23-413 Michael Lissack v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue District of Columbia 2023-10-19 GVR Relisted (2) administrative-action administrative-law agency-discretion chevron-deference discretion internal-revenue-service statutory-interpretation tax-law tax-whistleblower whistleblower-award Section 7623 of Title 26 governs the Internal Revenue Service's (hereinafter the "IRS") ability to pay awards to whistleblowers. Prior to 2006, awards…
23-5755 Dewayne Joseph v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2023-10-11 Denied IFP circuit-split discretion discretionary-relief fair-sentencing-act first-step-act retroactive-application sentencing-guidelines 1. Whether district courts have an obligation to calculate revised guidelines to reflect the retroactive effect of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 as …
23-284 H. C., Individually and on Behalf of J. C., a Child With a Disability, et al. v. New York City Department of Education Second Circuit 2023-09-22 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) attorneys-fees court-discretion disability-rights discretion due-process due-process-hearing educational-agency idea-act individuals-with-disabilities-education-act prevailing-rates settlement-offers 1. How does 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(G) affect an award of attorneys' fees under the IDEA? 2. What, if any, limit(s) constrain(s) a federal court's dis…
23-5600 Richard D. Bostwick v. Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, et al. Massachusetts 2023-09-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeals bankruptcy bankruptcy-stay civil-procedure discretion due-process judicial-discretion motion-to-vacate standing time-limitation Whether Bostwick's Appeal was NOT Reviewed by the Lower Courts (Appeals Case No. 21-P-721) given Bostwick's Notice of Appeal. The following was Appeal…
23-226 Antonio Soul Gonzalez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2023-09-12 Denied Amici (1) covered-offense criminal-sentencing discretion district-court-discretion fair-sentencing-act first-step-act recalculation sentence-reduction sentencing-range statutory-interpretation Whether a district court must recalculate a movant's sentencing range as if Sections 2 and 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 were in effect at the …
22-7732 George Cerron v. Personal Investment Inc. Florida 2023-06-08 Denied IFP appellate-procedure civil-procedure deadlines discretion dismissal motions In case 2D21-2195, the Second District Court of Appeals initially issued an order that granted the appellant's former counsel's motion to amend the in…
22-6152 Carlos Edward Kennedy v. Carla Jones Eleventh Circuit 2022-11-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion civil-procedure continuance discretion forensic-evidence pro-se Question not identified.
22-5061 Dewayne Joseph v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-07-11 GVR IFP concepcion-ruling concepcion-v-united-states crack-cocaine crack-penalties criminal-resentencing discretion eleventh-circuit fair-sentencing-act first-step-act sentencing sentencing-modification Whether this case should be reversed and remanded in light of Concepcion?
21-7717 Kacy Fonteze Williams v. Mississippi Fifth Circuit 2022-04-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-claim discretion discretionary-review district-court federal-review firearm-charge habeas habeas-corpus right-to-be-heard standard-of-review state-court Whether The District Court Failed To Properly Utilize Its Discretion On The Petitioners Habeas Where The Court Dismissed The Firearm Charge Issue Rend…
21-7536 Ramonta Forte v. Joe A. Lizarraga, Warden Ninth Circuit 2022-04-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP 6th-amendment counsel-of-choice discretion due-process federal-law habeas-corpus right-to-counsel sentencing 1. WHETHER THE DISTRICT COURT CORRECTLY DETERMINED THAT THE RIGHT TO COUNSEL AT SENTENCING IS NOT CLEARLY ESTABLISHED FEDERAL LAW? 2. WHETHER THE DIS…
21-1319 Mark Nordlicht and David Levy v. United States Second Circuit 2022-04-04 Denied Amici (1) credibility criminal-procedure discretion district-court-discretion evidence-weighing federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure jury-verdict new-trial new-trial-motion rule-33 standard-of-review witness-credibility Whether district courts have discretion to weigh the evidence, including the credibility of witnesses, when deciding to grant a new trial under Rule 3…
21-7357 Joel Castro-Lopez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-03-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeals appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing discretion district-court-discretion guidelines judicial-reasoning legal-standard sentencing sentencing-guidelines standard-of-review Whether a district court errs should reference or address substantial arguments for a sentence outside the Guideline range?
21-1116 Matthew Liebovich, et al. v. Diane Janice Tobin, et al. California 2022-02-11 Denied civil-procedure discretion due-process notice notice-requirement state-court-discretion state-statute supreme-court-precedent void-judgment Notice is an "elementary and fundamental requirement of due process," so where a court enters a judgment absent notice, the Due Process Clause demands…
21-6803 Javier Rosales v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-01-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion amendment-782 discretion drug-conspiracy due-process fifth-amendment opportunity-to-be-heard retroactive-amendment sentence-reduction sentencing sentencing-guidelines 1. Whether the Fifth Circuit erred in deciding that the District Court's order denying relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) did not comprise an abuse o…
21-6566 Steven Craig Bethea v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-12-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion constitutional-review criminal-sentencing discretion eighth-amendment judicial-abuse sentencing sentencing-discretion substantive-reasonableness upward-variance WHETHER THE DISTRICT COURT ERRED IN SENTENCING THE APPELLANT STEVEN BETHEA TO A GREATER SENTENCE THAN NECESSARY AS THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY …
21-523 Damon Simon, et ux. v. Roche Diagnostics Corporation Fifth Circuit 2021-10-08 Denied Response Waived appellate-discretion appellate-procedure certification civil-procedure court-of-appeals discretion judicial-procedure legal-review standard-of-review state-law state-law-certification 1. Whether the court of appeals applied an improper standard of review in exercising its discretion when ruling on the Simons' request to certify the …
20-8347 Terron McAllister v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-06-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion criminal-resentencing discretion first-step-act guidelines guidelines-range judicial-discretion resentencing sentence-reduction sentencing sentencing-discretion Whether a District Court adjudicating a motion for a reduced sentence under the First Step Act abuses its discretion when a defendant would have a sig…
20-8281 Dominic Franza v. James Stinson, Superintendent, Great Meadow Correctional Facility Second Circuit 2021-06-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-procedure appellate-review civil-procedure discretion judicial-procedure legal-precedent mandate-recall recall-of-mandate second-circuit Was it an abuse of discretion for the Second Circuit to deny Petitioner's Recall of the Mandate motion when the Second Circuit's very own decisions re…
20-8106 Roy Taylor v. Cynthia Brann, Commissioner, New York Department of Corrections New York 2021-05-21 Denied IFP bail-modification bail-reform constitutional-procedure court-discretion criminal-procedure discretion due-process excessive-bail misdemeanor misdemeanor-charges WHETHER NEW YORK STATE COURTS "ERRORED" NOT ADDRESSING THE MERITS OF: 1. WHETHER THE NEW YORK COUNTY SUPREME COURT ERRED EXONERATING BAIL ($125,000) …
20-7887 Ronnie Spells v. United States Second Circuit 2021-04-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP crack-cocaine discretion first-step-act judicial-discretion mandatory-minimums racial-disparities sentencing sentencing-reduction statutory-interpretation systemic-racism Whether District Court Judge Castel and the Second Circuit Appeals Court perpetuated continued systemic racism by contending that Congress left out th…
20-7878 Maci Denon Davis and Joe L. Franklin v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-04-28 Denied Relisted (2)IFP congress congressional-intent discretion district-court eighth-circuit first-step-act sentencing-commission sentencing-guidelines unwarranted-disparities Whether the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals incorrectly found that the district court was permitted to tether itself to the United States Sentencing G…
20-1130 Ericsson Inc., et al. v. TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited, et al. Federal Circuit 2021-02-17 Denied Relisted (3) appellate-review civil-procedure discretion federal-civil-procedure judgment-as-a-matter-of-law judgment-as-matter-of-law legal-issues preservation-of-issues summary-judgment 1. Whether, notwithstanding the ordinary rule that a pretrial denial of a motion for summary judgment is not reviewable on appeal, there is an excepti…
20-6953 Dwyne Byron Deruise, aka Duke v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-01-26 Denied IFP career-offender circuit-split criminal-justice-reform discretion discretionary-review first-step-act resentencing sentencing-guidelines Whether a district court that chooses to conduct a resentencing under § 404 of the First Step Act is prohibited from considering a defendant's current…
20-6316 Mickey Pubien v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-11-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split criminal-justice-reform criminal-resentencing discretion first-step-act penalty-reduction sentencing sentencing-discretion statutory-interpretation What the district court may appropriately consider when imposing a reduced sentence pursuant to § 404 of the First Step Act of 2018 remains an unsettl…
20-6281 Kevin Lamar Ratliff v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-11-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP amendment-782 career-offender criminal-law criminal-procedure discretion federal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines guideline-amendment judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-guidelines Lower Courts have discretion to reduce Whether the Petitioner's sentence under U.S.S. Guideline Amendment 782, regardless of Petitioner's career offen…
20-638 Samuel Gonzales v. ConocoPhillips Company, et al. Fifth Circuit 2020-11-10 Denied Response Waived attorney-fees burden-shifting civil-rights discretion employee-benefits erisa 1. Whether and to what extent district courts must consider ERISA's purpose "to protect *** the interests of participants in employee benefit plans an…
20-6093 Hany Sayed Abutaleb v. Mona Mohamed Abutaleb Illinois 2020-10-21 Denied Relisted (3)IFP 401(k) 401k-distribution asset-division discretion divorce-proceedings divorce-settlement equitable-distribution joint-assets judicial-discretion marital-assets property-division property-ownership Whether triai court did not abuse its discretion in awarding wife 75% of husband's 401{k)account although both are still having four joint assets plus…
20-527 Kevin Guskiewicz, in His Official Capacity as Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, et al. v. DTH Media Corporation, et al. North Carolina 2020-10-20 Denied Amici (2) disciplinary-records discretion education-records educational-privacy ferpa public-records sexual-assault sexual-assault-disciplinary-records supremacy-clause Does the Supremacy Clause permit a state public-records law to override the discretion that FERPA grants universities over the disclosure of sexual as…
20-5857 Alimamy Barrie v. United States Fourth Circuit 2020-10-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-USC-3582 criminal-procedure discretion federal-sentencing guidelines judicial-discretion retroactivity sentencing sentencing-amendment statutory-interpretation Question not identified.
20-334 City of San Antonio, Texas, On Behalf of Itself and All Other Similarly Situated Texas Municipalities v. Hotels.com, L.P., et al. Fifth Circuit 2020-09-14 Judgment Issued Amici (2)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) appellate-costs circuit-split civil-procedure cost-award discretion federal-rules judicial-discretion procedural-interpretation standard-of-review Whether, as the Fifth Circuit alone has held, district courts "lack[] discretion to deny or reduce" appellate costs deemed "taxable" in district court…
20-5594 William N. Lucy v. Estate of Annie D. Fox Alabama 2020-09-04 Denied Relisted (2)IFP administrative-exhaustion administrative-law circuit-court civil-rights discretion due-process estate-administration judicial-review probate procedural-requirements standing Question not identified.
20-5561 Craig Edward Hunnicutt, Jr. v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-09-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-review discretion federal-sentencing first-step-act guidelines judicial-discretion motion-denial sentence-reduction sentencing 1. A First Step Act (FSA) sentence reduction denial should come only after a "complete review on the merits." Yet the Sixth Circuit held that it had n…
20-5478 Fernando Hernandez v. United States First Circuit 2020-08-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion criminal-procedure discretion domestic-violence drug-trafficking due-process sentencing sentencing-discretion Was Hernandez ' due process rights violated when the district court abused its discretion in relying on Hernandez ' domestic violence past in sentenc…
20-5469 Alfonzo Traymayne Lee v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-08-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights constitutional-rights discretion due-process equal-protection first-step-act judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-reduction statutory-interpretation Whether giving the District court discretion to grant or deny sentencing reduction pursuant to 18 USC 3553(a) and the First Step Act of 2018, Section …
20-5361 Luis Torres-Marquez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-08-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-review criminal-sentencing discretion gall-v-united-states judicial-discretion presumption-of-reasonableness sentencing-guidelines standard-of-review For purposes of applying the abuse of discretion standard and presumption of reasonableness on appellate review of a within guidelines sentence, does …
20-131 Essity Hygiene and Health AB v. Cascades Canada ULC, et al. Federal Circuit 2020-08-07 Denied appointments-clause constitutional-interpretation discretion federal-circuit forfeiture judicial-discretion pending-cases precedential-decision scalia Following a precedential decision sustaining an Appointments Clause challenge, does a court have discretion to apply the decision in pending cases whe…
20-98 Thomas Wood, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Philip Talmadge Wood v. The Boeing Co. District of Columbia 2020-07-30 Denied Amici (1)Response Waived access-to-courts civil-procedure convenience discretion forum-non-conveniens international-litigation judicial-discretion material-injustice positive-evidence This Court has repeatedly held that a federal court has discretion to dismiss a case on the ground of forum non conveniens "when an alternative forum …
20-41 Warren Wexler v. United States Tenth Circuit 2020-07-17 Denied Response Waived administrative-discretion administrative-law attending-physician discretion jurisdiction medical-evaluation occupational-injury periodic-report second-opinion workers-compensation Whether it is within the OWCP's (Office of Workers' Compensation Programs) discretion to not request a periodic report from the AP (attending physicia…
19-8877 Patrick D. Lomas v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-07-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion criminal-procedure discretion fair-sentencing-act first-step-act judicial-discretion section-404 sentencing sentencing-reduction statutory-interpretation i. Did the District Court abuse it's Discretion when it denied Petitioner's Motion seeking a reduction of Sentence under Section 404(b) of the First S…
19-8412 Lenroy McLean v. United States Second Circuit 2020-05-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review circuit-court criminal-procedure discretion discretionary-review forfeiture plain-error sentencing sentencing-guidelines substantial-rights QUESTION I Should the Second Circuit Court of Appeals exercise it's discretion to correct the forfeited error of Petitioner's miscalculated guideline…
19-1260 Andrew Demma v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-04-30 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) 18-usc-3553a appeals-court child-pornography circuit-split discretion gall-v-united-states judicial-discretion kimbrough-v-united-states policy-disagreement sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness (1) Whether the discretion recognized under Kimbrough v. United States for a district court to vary based on a policy disagreement applies to the chil…
19-7648 Otis Renaldo Harris v. United States Fourth Circuit 2020-02-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-justice criminal-procedure discretion discretionary-power district-court due-process equal-protection judicial-review sentencing sentencing-reduction statutory-interpretation I. WHETHER THE DISTRICT COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION WHEN IT FOUND THAT PETITIONER HARRIS WAS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR A SENTENCE REDUCTION UNDER SECTION 404?
19-997 Gary S. Williky v. Securities and Exchange Commission Seventh Circuit 2020-02-10 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) appellate-review circuit-court civil-penalties discretion guilty-plea guilty-pleas guilty-verdicts judicial-discretion seventh-circuit whistleblower Did the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals err in determining that the Trial Court did not abuse its discretion by awarding 2x civil penalties against W…
19-7451 David Keith Rogers v. California California 2020-01-30 Denied IFP 6th-amendment constitutional-hearing constitutional-rights court-discretion discretion due-process evidentiary-hearing fair-trial hearing judicial-procedure juror-misconduct legal-review Question not identified.
19-7473 Milon Jarr Brown v. Michigan Michigan 2020-01-29 Denied IFP civil-rights confrontation-clause constitutional-rights discretion due-process expert-testimony fifth-amendment hearsay judicial-bias photographic-evidence prosecutorial-misconduct self-incrimination sixth-amendment WAS THE PETITIONER DENIED AN OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT A COMPLETE DEFENSE WHEN A WITNESS FROM THE DEFENSE INVOKED A SPECIOUS FIFTH AMENDMENT CLAIM AGAINS…
19-7459 Christopher Peyton v. Ravonne Sims, Warden, et al. Kentucky 2020-01-29 Denied IFP civil-rights constitutional-rights discretion due-process familial-visitation family-bonds grievance-procedure incarceration-rights parole rehabilitation visitation Does incarceration sever a person's right to maintain their familiar bonds through some form of visitation? Were Petitioner's Due Process Rights viol…
19-898 Kimberly D. Collins v. Gwendolyn Thornton Fourth Circuit 2020-01-21 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) circuit-split civil-procedure discretion federal-rules-of-civil-procedure good-cause judicial-discretion service-of-process statute-of-limitations Some five years ago, in Chen v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, Md., 135 S. Ct. 475 (2014) (mem.), this Court recognized at least a 7-1 circuit spl…
19-699 Albert D. Moustakis v. Wisconsin Department of Justice Wisconsin 2019-12-03 Denied Response Waived administrative-law case-law common-law discretion discretionary-power judicial-review mandamus open-records open-records-law public-official public-records strict-scrutiny 1.) Whether the common law writ of mandamus may be issued when a public official exercises discretion outside the constraints placed upon the discreti…
19-6485 Ryan Van Stevenson v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-11-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-waiver criminal-procedure discretion due-process due-process,appellate-waiver,abuse-of-discretion,s evidence-standard extrinsic-evidence judicial-discretion preponderance-of-the-evidence sentencing-enhancement Did the Court abuse it's discretion when it enforced an appellate waiver on an issue that was outside the scope of the appellate waiver's provisions? …
19-6252 Edinson Herrera Ramirez v. Maryland Maryland 2019-10-11 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-review biased-jury criminal-procedure discretion ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judicial-discretion jury-selection legal-standard maryland-court-of-appeals peremptory-challenge peremptory-strike prejudice WHETHER THE MARYLAND COURT OF APPEALS ERRED AND ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN HOLDING THAT PETITIONER HAD RECEIVED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL BY COU…
19-472 City of East Cleveland, Ohio, et al. v. Charles Hunt, et al. Ohio 2019-10-10 Denied Response Waived abuse-of-discretion bifurcation civil-litigation civil-procedure civil-procedure-bifurcation discretion emergency-vehicle-immunity expert-witness-testimony juror-misconduct manifest-weight-of-evidence motion motion-to-bifurcate trial trial-court-discretion trial-procedure 1. Whether the Trial Court abused its discretion when it denied Petitioners' Motion to Bifurcate the trial. 2. Whether the Trial Court abused its dis…
19-5333 Charles York Walker, Jr. v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-07-25 GVR IFP abuse-of-discretion case-specific-factors criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-rule-11 discretion district-court district-court-discretion felon-in-possession grand-jury incorrect-assumptions opioid-crisis plea-agreement plea-bargaining policy-disagreement rehaif-standard rule-11 Whether a district court abuses its discretion by determining whether to accept or reject a plea agreement under Rule 11 of the Rules of Criminal Proc…
18-9815 Kazi Bowles v. Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2019-06-26 Denied Relisted (2)IFP civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-provisions discretion district-court due-process federal-jurisdiction habeas-corpus judicial-review jurisdiction petition relief standing writ-of-habeas-corpus DID THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEAL ERROR BY NOT USING A CLEAR ERROR STANDARD OF REVIEN WHILES REVIEWING THE PETTIONERS MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM JU…
18-9763 Stirling Michael Heaton v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-06-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP concurrent-sentences concurrent-sentencing criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing discretion federal-guidelines federal-jurisdiction federal-plea-agreement judicial-discretion modification retroactive-amendment retroactive-guidelines-amendment sentence-concurrency sentencing-guidelines sentencing-modification sentencing-reform-act (1). In § 3582(c)(2) proceedings to modify a federal sentence in light of a retroactive amendment to the United States Sentencing Guidelines, does the…
18-1435 Matthew Wayne Minard, Individually and in His Official Capacity as a Taylor Police Officer v. Debra Lee Cruise-Gulyas Sixth Circuit 2019-05-15 Denied Response Waived civil-rights constitutional-rights discretion discretionary-action discretionary-enforcement due-process first-amendment fourteenth-amendment fourth-amendment free-speech law-enforcement qualified-immunity retaliation retaliatory-arrest traffic-stop I. Did the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals define the "clearly established" constitutional rights at issue in this qualified immunity case at too high …
18-8951 Terrance Proctor v. Wendy Kelley, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction Arkansas 2019-04-23 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP criminal-procedure discretion due-process eighth-amendment graham-v-florida juvenile-sentencing life-without-parole mitigation proportionality sentencing-mitigation 1. Are consecutive, fixed term sentences for juveniles unconstitutional at the outset when they amount functional equivalent of life w/out parole? Ap…
18-8759 Cuauhtemoc Juarez-Aquino v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-04-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-review circuit-split criminal-sentencing discretion district-court-authority due-process judicial-discretion majority-circuits ninth-circuit sentencing-discretion sentencing-factors Whether a federal district court is permitted boundless discretion to weigh established factors at sentencing, as the Ninth Circuit has held, or wheth…
18-8490 Bernard Mitchell v. California California 2019-03-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion criminal-street-gangs discretion due-process evidence gang-evidence ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-exposure jury-instructions jury-prejudice prejudice prosecutorial-misconduct sentencing sentencing-discretion standard-of-review 1. Did the court abuse its discretion in permitting the jury to be exposed to the nicknames "Crip" and "'Scrap,"' which have been taken as a suggestio…
18-8468 Alfredo Mendez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-03-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-review circuit-split criminal-procedure discretion district-court-authority due-process federal-courts judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-discretion sentencing-factors Whether a federal district court is permitted boundless discretion at sentencing to weigh established factors at sentencing, as the Ninth Circuit has …
18-8370 Lonnie Eugene Lillard v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-03-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review conflict-of-interest constitutional-rights criminal-appeal criminal-procedure discretion due-process federal-procedure ninth-circuit self-representation What procedural safeguards are afforded to federal criminal defendants when an Appellate Court panel exercises its discretion in deciding whether or n…
18-8083 Reshawn D'Arby Magnificent-El, aka Reshawn D'Arby Phillips v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-02-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion compliance criminal-procedure discretion district-court drug-testing due-process knowingly-used-drugs sentencing-conditions supervised-release supervised-release-conditions Whether a district court abuses its discretion in imposing a drug-testing condition on a defendant who never knowingly used drugs, and has otherwise b…
18-7920 Harold A. Habeck, II v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-02-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP consecutive-sentences criminal-procedure criminal-procedure,sentencing,mandatory-minimums,d criminal-sentencing discretion drug-offense drug-offenses firearms mandatory-minimum mandatory-minimums predicate-crime sentencing-discretion statutory-interpretation "Whether; Dean v. United States, 581 U.S. (2017) permits a district court the discretion to consider less than the mandatory sixty month consecutive s…
18-721 Norman Bloom v. Aftermath Public Adjusters, Inc., et al. Fifth Circuit 2018-12-06 Denied certification circuit-split civil-procedure discretion diversity-jurisdiction federal-court federal-court-discretion federal-courts legal-uncertainty procedural-standards state-law state-law-certification Whether the language of a state's certification rule should factor into the federal court's decision to certify a dispositive state law question in a …
18-706 Esther Kiobel, By and Through Her Attorney-In-Fact, Channa Samkalden v. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Second Circuit 2018-11-30 Denied Response Waived confidentiality-order discovery-standards discretion discretion-of-district-court district-court-discretion foreign-court-receptivity foreign-legal-assistance foreign-legal-assistance-statute-28-usc-1782 foreign-non-discoverability intel-case intel-v-advanced-micro-devices non-discoverability second-circuit-court-of-appeals section-1782 Under Intel, may a district court in its discretion allow Section 1782 discovery where the foreign court is receptive to U.S. discovery, but the docum…
18-6833 Jose Ramon Zuniga, aka Josue Ararel Zuniga-Zaragoza, aka Jose Ramon Zuniga-Garcia v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-11-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure discretion due-process federal-jurisdiction judicial-discretion offense-level residual-clause sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-standards statutory-interpretation 1. Whether a Guideline which incorporates by reference § 16(b)'s residual clause may serve as the basis for increasing the defendant's offense level u…
18-6202 Amil Dinsio v. Appellate Division, Supreme Court of New York, Third Judicial Department Second Circuit 2018-10-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-procedure appellate-review civil-procedure court-mandate discretion due-process federal-courts judicial-discretion legal-review mandate mandate-recall motion-denial recall standing Did the Second Circuit Court abuse its discretion when it denied the Petitioner's motion to recall the Court's mandate? See Exhibit B Did the Federal…
18-6068 Rodney L. Jones v. Wendy Kelley, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction Eighth Circuit 2018-09-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-review certificate-of-appealability civil-procedure court-of-appeals discretion due-process habeas-corpus tI(4Tk QQUtT CUT ci APpju 4u rr grc .X1' YJC TN(~'9 APPLIc,Tzc RQ rrFICAYB
18-333 Old Dominion Electric Cooperative v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission District of Columbia 2018-09-14 Denied Amici (1) administrative-law discretion federal-energy-regulatory-commission ferc-discretion filed-rate-doctrine market-based-rate polar-vortex reliability retroactive-ratemaking Whether the court of appeals erroneously determined that the filed rate doctrine and the rule against retroactive ratemaking leave the Federal Energy …
18-5699 Chuck Wayne Boyd v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-08-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553 18-usc-3582 3553-factors 3582-modification criminal-sentencing discretion inmate-progress judicial-discretion post-sentence-history pre-sentence-history sentence-reduction sentencing-guidelines usg-amendment-782 When considering a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C.§ 3582 and U.S.S.G. Amendment 782, does the court abuse it's discretion by not explaining the rea…
18-5607 Friday Ogunyemi James v. United States Third Circuit 2018-08-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure discretion due-process evidence fair-instruction jury-instructions restitution sentencing sentencing-discretion tax tax-offense theory-of-defense trial-exhibit willfulness 1. Whether the Petitioner was entitled to a fair instruction to support the verdict in his favor on the theory of defense that has the basis in the ev…
18-5207 Omar Montoya v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-07-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3582 circumstances-beyond-control criminal-sentencing,sentencing-guidelines,abuse-of criminal-sentencing,sentencing-guidelines,sentenci discretion sentencing-guidelines sentencing-range timeliness Whether the District Court reversibly erred in Denying to Reduce and Appropriate Outcome when the Subsequent Sentencing Range has been Lowered by the …
18-5047 Keith Lamont Tutt v. United States Fourth Circuit 2018-06-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion acceptance-of-responsibility corporate-liability criminal-procedure-due-process discretion due-process environmental-regulations fair-opportunity officer-responsibility plea-bargaining regulatory-compliance sentencing statutory-interpretation withdraw-guilty-plea withdrawal-of-plea 1) Whether the district court Prejudiced the defendant by denying him due process of a concerning his reasons for Wanting to withdraw his guilty plea …