Supreme Court Clinic - Cases & Briefs

All files are in PDF format.

Certiorari Stage

2011

• Overton v. United States, No. 11-5408, Petition for Certiorari
  (May a federal sentencing court, in revoking a defendant's term of supervised release, lengthen a defendant's term in order to punish him?)
• Garcia v. Holder, No. 11-79, Petition for Certiorari
  (Is a state conviction for possessing an unspecified quantity of marijuana categorically an aggravated felony for purposes of federal immigration law, even if the offense could fall within the federal misdemeanor exception for low-level drug offenses?)

2010

• Estalita v. Holder, No. 10-517, Petition for Certiorari and Reply Brief
  (Must a noncitizen who has complied with an order to depart be afforded her statutory right to have her first, timely motion to reopen considered on its merits, notwithstanding the regulatory post-departure bar?)
• Turner v. Rogers, No. 10-10, Respondents' Brief in Opposition
  (In a mother's pro se action to enforce a child-support order, does the father have a categorical Sixth or Fourteenth Amendment right to appointed counsel before he can be confined for a limited time for civil contempt?)
• Ohio v. Smith, No. 09-1377, Respondent's Brief in Opposition
  (Does the Fourth Amendment allow a warrantless search incident to arrest of a second-generation cell phone?)
• Wise v. United States, No. 10-6658. Certiorari Petition
  (Is a state conviction for failing to stop a vehicle at a police officer's command a crime of violence within the Armed Career Criminal Act and U.S. Sentencing Guideline 4B1.2?)
• City of Reno et al. v. Conn, No. 09-1361, Certiorari Petition
  (Must municipalities train police officers to diagnose and report arrestees' symptoms of suicidal tendencies to avoid municipal liability under the Due Process Clause and Section 1983? Must police officers diagnose and report such symptoms to avoid individual liability?)
• Yuma Anesthesia Medical Services v. Fleming, No. 09-1146, Brief in Opposition
  (Does Section 504(d) of the Rehabilitation Act apply to an independent contractor's disability discrimination claim under Section 504(a)? If it does, does it exclude independent contractors from the Rehabilitation Act's otherwise comprehensive protections against disability discrimination in the workplace?)
• Robinson et al. v. Lehman, No. 09-697 Reply Brief for Petitioners
  (Were police officers justified in escalating to deadly force against a motorist who had charged at them with a knife and then suddenly rammed a police car in an apparent effort to escape? Should the Ninth Circuit be summarily reversed for denying their claim of qualified immunity in the face of clear video evidence confirming the reasonableness of their actions?)
• Mitchell v. United States, No. 09-10053, Petition for Certiorari
  (Should the good-faith exception to the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule be extended to the fruits of an unconstitutional warrantless search simply because it would have been permitted by lower court precedent overruled by the Supreme Court?)
• Svete v. United States, No. 09-7576, Certiorari Petition and Reply Brief
  (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?)

2009

• 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?)
• 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?)

Merits Stage

2011

• Tapia v. United States, No. 10-5400, Brief Amicus Curiae by Invitation of the Court and Joint Appendix
  (May a federal sentencing judge, in setting a defendant's prison sentence, consider an individual defendant's need for a in-prison drug treatment program?)
• Turner v. Rogers, No. 10-10, Brief of Respondents and Joint Appendix
  ((1) Does the Supreme Court have jurisdiction to review the decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court?
  (2) In a mother's pro se action to enforce a child-support order, does the father have a categorical Sixth or Fourteenth Amendment right to appointed counsel before he can be confined for a limited time for civil contempt?)
• Ashcroft v. Al-Kidd, No. 10-98, Brief of Amici Curiae Legal History and Criminal Procedure Law Professors in Support of Respondent
  ((1) Is there historical precedent for allowing the government to detain material witnesses without first offering them the alternative of providing recognizances or sureties?
  (2) Have prosecutors historically enjoyed absolute immunity for claims of wrongful imprisonment or abuse of the witness-detention process?)

2010

• Connick v. Thompson, No. 09-571, Brief of the National League of Cities et al., in Support of Petitioners
  (Can a municipality be held liable under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for failure to train prosecutors to disclose exculpatory material absent evidence of a past pattern of similar violations?)
• Kevin Abbott v. United States, No. 09-479, & Carlos Rashad Gould v. United States, No. 09-7073, Amicus Brief in Support of Petitioners
  (Where a criminal defendant receives a longer mandatory minimum sentence for a separate count of conviction, must the sentencing court also impose a mandatory consecutive sentence for using or carrying a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 924(c)?)

2009

• Padilla v. Kentucky, No.08-651, Brief of Petitioner, Joint Appendix and Reply Brief
  (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?)
  Press coverage: New York Times | Washington Post | Associated Press
• 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?)
  Press coverage: The Daily Pennsylvanian