totality-of-circumstances
44 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-6640 | Juan Carlos Bejar-Guizar v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2026-01-21 | Pending | Response WaivedIFP | border-patrol fourth-amendment illegal-entry reasonable-suspicion search-and-seizure totality-of-circumstances | Whether a court assessing the existence of reasonable suspicion under the Fourth Amendment may exclude facts that show a likelihood of innocent behavi… |
| 25-248 | District of Columbia v. R.W. | District of Columbia | 2025-09-03 | Pending | Amici (3)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (5) | fourth-amendment investigative-stop judicial-review law-enforcement reasonable-suspicion totality-of-circumstances | 1. Whether a court assessing the existence of reasonable suspicion under the Fourth Amendment may exclude a fact known to the officer, or instead must… |
| 25A169 | Kristi Noem, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security, et al. v. Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2025-08-07 | Presumed Complete | Amici (2) | fourth-amendment illegal-aliens immigration-enforcement investigative-stops reasonable-suspicion totality-of-circumstances | Question not identified. |
| 25A63 | District of Columbia v. R.W. | District of Columbia | 2025-07-16 | Presumed Complete | fourth-amendment investigative-stop probable-cause reasonable-suspicion terry-stop totality-of-circumstances | 1. This case involves an important question regarding the constitutional standard for a police officer to conduct an investigative stop. It is well es… | |
| 24-1047 | Ethel "Laverne" McVae, Individually and on Behalf of the Estate of Marcus McVae, Deceased, et al. v. Jesse Perez | Fifth Circuit | 2025-04-03 | Denied | Response Waived | deadly-force fourth-amendment law-enforcement qualified-immunity totality-of-circumstances use-of-force | Nearly four decades ago, this Court drew a constitutional line: law enforcement may not use deadly force against an unarmed, fleeing suspect who poses… |
| 24-931 | Laurie Ann DeVore v. University of Kentucky Board of Trustees | Sixth Circuit | 2025-02-27 | Denied | Response Waived | accommodation-process religious-discrimination sincerely-held-beliefs title-vii totality-of-circumstances undue-hardship | 1. Whether the dispute of sincerely held religious beliefs should be evaluated under a Totality of Circumstances test that resolves the dispute, not b… |
| 24-353 | Elelake James Jefferson, Jr. v. Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | 2024-09-30 | Denied | consent-doctrine fourth-amendment schneckloth-standard subjective-intent totality-of-circumstances warrantless-search | When an individual believes he is not consenting to a warrantless search and waiving his rights under the Fourth Amendment, and does not intend to con… | |
| 23-6909 | Arnold D. Holland v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2024-03-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure fourth-amendment probable-cause reasonable-suspicion search search-and-seizure supervised-release totality-of-circumstances | 1. Whether the Fourth Amendment applies to the act of searching or the initial decision to search, based on an objective standard considering the tota… |
| 23-6784 | Khaled Elbeblawy v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2024-02-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | aedpa circuit-split constitutional-rights equitable-tolling habeas-corpus rigid-approach statute-of-limitations totality-of-circumstances | QUESTION 1: Equitable Tolling: Whether the Holland Court's direction to review with flexibility the circumstances warranting equitable tolling is cons… |
| 23-6348 | Danial Leanos v. Illinois | Illinois | 2023-12-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | confession confidentiality constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process interrogation interrogation-tactics miranda-rights suspect-waiver totality-of-circumstances | Should an interrogator's promise of confidentiality invalidate a suspect's Miranda waiver only if it immediately induces them to confess, or should it… |
| 23-520 | Titus Thompson v. United States | Second Circuit | 2023-11-16 | Denied | Response Waived | fourth-amendment illinois-v-gates informant-reliability oath probable-cause totality-of-circumstances warrant warrant-issuance | Whether the bottom has fallen out of the "totality of the circumstances" standard established by Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983) for evaluating… |
| 23-410 | Estate of Gabriel Strickland, et al. v. Nevada County, California, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2023-10-19 | Denied | 42-usc-1983 civil-rights deadly-force graham-factors graham-v-connor objective-reasonableness section-1983 totality-of-circumstances totality-of-the-circumstances use-of-force | This case presents a unique question of law under 42 U.S.C. §1983 concerning the application of the "totality of the circumstances" test adopted in Gr… | |
| 23-221 | Andrew H. Zoellick v. Wisconsin | Wisconsin | 2023-09-08 | Denied | Response Waived | 4th-amendment civil-rights due-process fourth-amendment jurisprudential-definition mitigating-factors probable-cause reasonable-suspicion totality-of-circumstances totality-of-the-circumstances | Whether the absence of any jurisprudential definition of the term "totality," as applied to the totality of the circumstances test under the Fourth Am… |
| 23-5120 | Clim Eugene Murphy Thomas v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2023-07-17 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 4th-amendment civil-rights consensual-encounter consent-search due-process fifth-circuit law-enforcement police-encounter racial-profiling totality-of-circumstances | WHETHER THE UNITED STATE FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS IMPROPERLY APPLIED ITS TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ANALYSIS OF PETITIONER'S CHALLENGE TO THE… |
| 22-768 | Angie Waller, et al. v. Richard Hoeppner, et al. | Fifth Circuit | 2023-02-15 | Denied | Response Waived | civil-rights-act fourth-amendment graham-v-connor municipal-liability reasonableness reasonableness-standard search-and-seizure tennessee-v-garner totality-of-circumstances totality-of-the-circumstances | 1. Does the Fifth Circuit's "narrowed" test of reasonableness of a search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment, which deems as irrelevant any of th… |
| 22-6698 | Robert Hadley Gross v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2023-02-03 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-law first-impression frivolity ineffective-assistance-of-counsel legal-merit non-frivolous-appeal rational-defendant roe-v-flores-ortega totality-of-circumstances | This is a criminal case, which involves issues regarding ineffective assistance of counsel, frivolity, and first impression. 1. Is the Roe v. Flore… |
| 21-726 | Augustin Torres Gonzalez v. Steven Hahl, et al. | Second Circuit | 2021-11-17 | Denied | Response Waived | arrest-standard civil-rights due-process false-arrest investigative-procedure judicial-review law-enforcement malicious-prosecution pendent-jurisdiction probable-cause state-policy totality-of-circumstances | 1. The Panel found arguable probable cause to arrest and prosecute petitioner for the felony of sexual abuse in the first degree under New York law wi… |
| 21-6223 | Aaron Martin Mercado-Gracia v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2021-11-09 | Denied | IFP | 4th-amendment consent fourth-amendment police-questioning race racial-profiling reasonable-person reasonable-person-standard totality-of-circumstances traffic-stop | Once an officer issues a traffic citation and tells the person he may leave, the Fourth Amendment requires consent to then delay departure to ask more… |
| 21-533 | Brad Martin, Individually and as an Employee of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, et al. v. Carlos Castro | Ninth Circuit | 2021-10-12 | Denied | Amici (1) | clearly-established-law fourth-amendment k9-deployment law-enforcement qualified-immunity reasonable-force totality-of-circumstances use-of-force violent-crime | 1. When a law enforcement officer reasonably deploys a police K9 to restrain a fleeing suspect known to have a history of violent crime and believed t… |
| 21-5913 | Desmond S. Gaines v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2021-10-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 4th-amendment 911-tip anonymous-tip anonymous-tips corroboration drug-sales reasonable-suspicion search-and-seizure seizure terry-stop totality-of-circumstances | An anonymous tip must either be reliable on its own or be adequately corroborated before it can provide reasonable suspicion to seize a person. This C… |
| 20-1745 | Richard Sylvester v. United States | First Circuit | 2021-06-16 | Denied | 4th-amendment burden-of-proof community-caretaking fourth-amendment investigatory-motive law-enforcement-procedure police-policy probable-cause subjective-intent totality-of-circumstances vehicle-impound vehicle-impoundment | 1. In order for a vehicle impound to be consonant with the Fourth Amendment, must a police officer comply with established impound policies and proced… | |
| 20-1685 | Scott Fulford, et al. v. George Wingate | Fourth Circuit | 2021-06-04 | Denied | civil-liability fourth-amendment law-enforcement-training qualified-immunity reasonable-suspicion terry-stop totality-of-circumstances totality-of-the-circumstances | The Fourth Amendment requires that a Terry stop be supported by some minimal level of objective justification for the stop. In conducting a Fourth Ame… | |
| 20-1340 | Amanuel Gebrengus Atsemet v. Texas | Texas | 2021-03-24 | Denied | circuit-court-split constitutional-right-to-travel constitutional-rights fourth-amendment license-plate-profiling marijuana-legalization reasonable-suspicion right-to-travel totality-of-circumstances | When applying the "totality of the circumstances" test for reasonable suspicion in a state that has criminalized marijuana, does the consideration of … | |
| 20-7102 | Toheed Ahmed v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2021-02-10 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 4th-amendment circuit-split dog-sniff high-crime-area motion-to-suppress racial-profiling tenth-circuit totality-of-circumstances traffic-stop | Was the Tenth Circuit correct in affirming the denial of Mr. Ahmed's motion to suppress evidence seized during and derived from an August 26, 2015 tra… |
| 20-886 | Thelma G. McCoy v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2021-01-04 | Denied | Amici (3) | bankruptcy bankruptcy-code brunner-test circuit-split student-loan-debt student-loans totality-of-circumstances totality-test undue-hardship | The Bankruptcy Code permits courts to discharge student loan debt in bankruptcy if a debtor can show that repaying it would cause her "undue hardship.… |
| 20-752 | Gavin B. Davis v. California | California | 2020-12-01 | Denied | Relisted (2) | appeal appellate-review civil-rights criminal-procedure due-process judicial-discretion plea-bargaining plea-withdrawal sentencing totality-of-circumstances | (1) Did the 4th Dist., Div. 1, Court of Appeal, California, err in its (a) inquiry and (b) application of Boykin / Tahl 1 analysis under its (c) "tota… |
| 20-5843 | Courtney C. Brown v. Wisconsin | Wisconsin | 2020-09-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 4th-amendment constitutional-rights fourth-amendment police-authority reasonable-suspicion rodriguez-v-us search search-and-seizure totality-of-circumstances traffic-stop | 1. Should the Court reverse Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 109-10 (1977), wherein, based on "the inordinate risk confronting an officer as he ap… |
| 20-5507 | Laci Landers v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2020-08-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review criminal-procedure discretionary-review drug-offense guidelines judicial-review reasonableness reasonableness-standard revocation-sentence sentencing sentencing-guidelines totality-of-circumstances | Whether the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ("Fifth Circuit") has so far departed from the accepted and usual cou… |
| 20-5261 | Michael Fred Houston v. Texas | Texas | 2020-08-05 | Denied | IFP | court-of-appeals criminal-procedure due-process eyewitness-identification identification-testimony motion-to-suppress reliability-standard suggestive-identification suggestive-procedure totality-of-circumstances witness-reliability | 1) Does under the totality of the circumstance, is the in-court identification reliable even though the confrontation procedure was suggestive? 2) Di… |
| 20-5085 | Joe Edward Johnson v. California | California | 2020-07-16 | Denied | Amici (1)Relisted (5)IFP | batson-challenge criminal-procedure due-process faretta-motion faretta-v-california jury-selection legal-timeliness self-representation timeliness totality-of-circumstances | 1. Whether, as the overwhelming majority of jurisdictions hold, a request for self-representation under Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975), is… |
| 19-1267 | Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd. v. George Bell, et al. | California | 2020-05-05 | Denied | Response Waived | circuit-split civil-procedure control judicial-interpretation legal-standing litigation-control non-party preclusion preclusion-doctrine rigid-test rigid-two-part-test totality-of-circumstances | Federal law permits someone to be subject to preclusion when they have exercised "control" over a lawsuit, even if they were not formally a party to i… |
| 19-8334 | James Butler v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2020-04-22 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure custody due-process fifth-amendment miranda-rights miranda-warning police-interrogation totality-of-circumstances | If the totality of the circumstances establish that a defendant is under police control and not free to leave until police questioning is finished, do… |
| 19-426 | Pennsylvania v. Michael J. Hicks | Pennsylvania | 2019-10-01 | Denied | Amici (1) | 4th-amendment civil-rights constitutional-analysis due-process element-or-defense-test firearm-possession innocent-scenarios law-enforcement police-officer police-stop reasonable-suspicion stop totality-of-circumstances | 1. Whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision in this case is contrary to this Court's precedent and established framework for the analysis of … |
| 19-345 | Dorian Johnson v. City of Ferguson, Missouri, et al. | Eighth Circuit | 2019-09-17 | Denied | civil-rights constitutional-rights fourth-amendment move-on-order police-encounter public-space reasonable-person-standard seizure totality-of-circumstances use-of-force | A "seizure" occurs under the Fourth Amendment when, under the totality of the circumstances, "a reasonable person would believe he was not free to dec… | |
| 19-5429 | Cantrell Lamont Burwell v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-08-01 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | 4th-amendment appellate-procedure clear-error consent-search consent-to-search de-novo de-novo-review eleventh-circuit fourth-amendment standard-of-review totality-of-circumstances | In the context of the Fourth Amendment, this Court has characterized the voluntariness of consent to a search as "a question of fact to be determined … |
| 19-88 | Wadith Stockinger Nader, et ux. v. City of Papillion, Nebraska, et al. | Eighth Circuit | 2019-07-17 | Denied | Response Waived | absolute-immunity eighth-circuit fourth-amendment law-enforcement probable-cause prosecutorial-immunity search-and-seizure totality-of-circumstances totality-of-the-circumstances | 1. Can an unverified tip which was the basis for a lawful search, and which was disproved during the course of the lawful search, by itself constitute… |
| 18-9523 | Amnon Ami Levi v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-06-03 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | custodial-interrogation isolation language-abilities miranda-rights miranda-v-arizona neutral-location police-domination police-isolation totality-of-circumstances totality-of-the-circumstances voluntariness | I. Whether factors of police domination and isolation can result in custodial interrogation within the meaning of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (19… |
| 18-9110 | Darius T. Murphy v. New Jersey | New Jersey | 2019-05-02 | Denied | IFP | actual-innocence civil-rights criminal-procedure due-process evidence evidentiary-standard legal-claim misidentification totality-of-circumstances | WHAT SPECTRUM OF EVIDENCE IS REQUIRED TO PROVE ACTUAL INNOCENCE CLAIM? WHAT CONSIDERATION IS GIVEN TO A MISIDENTIFICATION IN AN ACTUAL INNOCENCE CLAI… |
| 18-8433 | Emond Durea Logan v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2019-03-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-proceedings effective-assistance-of-counsel plea-negotiations sixth-amendment strickland-v-washington totality-of-circumstances | Whether a defendant may be entitled, at least under some circumstances, to relief as a result of an attorney's ineffective assistance, even if another… |
| 18-7914 | Jay Maurice Tharps v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2019-02-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 4th-amendment anonymous-informant drug-trafficking fourth-amendment leon-exception leon-good-faith-exception partially-rotten-fruit probable-cause search-warrant totality-of-circumstances totality-of-the-circumstances | Whether the Fourth Circuit erred in determining that probable cause existed when instead of describing any reliable and corroborated facts about drug … |
| 18-7846 | Reginald Hough v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2019-02-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 4th-amendment confrontation-clause evidence expert-testimony fifth-amendment lay-witness police-procedure probable-cause search-warrant totality-of-circumstances | Based on the totality of the circumstances was there probable cause for the search warrant to issue? Is it permissible for a lay witness to offer tes… |
| 18-7600 | Johnathan Holt v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2019-01-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constitutional-procedure custody custody-analysis interrogation law-enforcement-interrogation miranda-custody miranda-v-arizona objective-analysis personal-mobility sixth-circuit sixth-circuit-interpretation totality-of-circumstances | Under the objective analysis criteria established by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), and its progeny, must a court evaluate all of the circum… |
| 18-5987 | Ajohntae Hammond v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2018-09-14 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 4th-amendment circuit-split fourth-amendment officer-safety police-discretion pretext probable-cause qualified-immunity reasonable-suspicion search-and-seizure totality-of-circumstances totality-of-the-circumstances warrantless-search | When deciding whether a police officer's fear for his safety justified a warrantless search of a person not suspected of any crime, may courts limit t… |
| 18-323 | Suzan Evans, Individually and as Wife and Next of Kin of Scott Evans, Deceased v. United States, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2018-09-12 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) | circuit-split constitutional-law excessive-force fourth-amendment graham-v-connor police-conduct reasonableness-standard tennessee-v-garner totality-of-circumstances use-of-force | Whether the totality of the circumstances test for assessing the reasonableness of a use of force under this Court's decisions in Tennessee v. Garner,… |