Supreme Court Clinic - Cases & Briefs

All files are in PDF format.

Certiorari Stage

Svete v. United States, No. 09-__, Certiorari Petition
(In a prosecution for mail fraud, must the government prove that the defendant made statements or omissions that were reasonably calculated to deceive an ordinarily prudent person?)
United States v. Williams, No. 09-466, Respondent's Brief in Opposition
(Where a defendant is convicted of a gun crime under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) as well as a drug-trafficking crime carrying a higher mandatory minimum sentence, must the sentencing judge impose a mandatory consecutive sentence under § 924(c) as well?)
Astrue v. Ratliff, No. 08-1332, Respondent's Brief in Opposition
(Where a lawyer wins an attorney's fee award in a Social Security disability case, is the fee award the property of the lawyer or of the plaintiff and so subject to offset an unrelated debt owed by the plaintiff to the government? Clinic consulted on the opposition)
Padilla v. Kentucky, No. 08-651, Amicus Brief in Support of Petitioner
(Where a guilty plea triggers mandatory deportation of a noncitizen defendant, does a criminal defense lawyer's failure to advise or affirmative misadvice about the likelihood of deportation violate the Sixth Amendment guarantee of effective assistance of counsel?)

Astrue v. Ratliff, No. 08-1332, Respondent's Brief
(Where a lawyer wins an attorney's fee award in a Social Security disability case, is the fee award the property of the lawyer or of the plaintiff and so subject to offset an unrelated debt owed by the plaintiff to the government? Clinic working on respondent's brief)
Padilla v. Kentucky, No.08-651, Brief of Petitioner and Joint Appendix
(Where a guilty plea triggers mandatory deportation of a noncitizen defendant, does a criminal defense lawyer's failure to advise or affirmative misadvice about the likelihood of deportation violate the Sixth Amendment guarantee of effective assistance of counsel?)
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Abbott v. Abbott, No. 08-645, Brief of Respondent
(Where a foreign court awards a father visitation rights but no custody, and a ne exeat provision prevents the mother from leaving the country without the father's or a court's consent, does the father have "rights of custody" that obligate U.S. courts to return the child to the original country under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction?)