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Gerard A. Sheridan v. Manuel de Jesus Ortega Melendres, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 16-16663 · judgment August 3, 2017

Certiorari denied · June 25, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 6% cert probability (95% interval 4%–8%)

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Ninth Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).

Questions presented

Gerard A. Sheridan is the former Chief Deputy of the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office, who was found in civil contempt of a district court's preliminary injunction order after he voluntarily agreed the order had been violated, although not intentionally. The district court's subsequent actions related to the contempt, however, have directly and continuously damaged Sheridan. In an attempt to vacate those actions and clear his name, Sheridan challenged the district court's findings of contempt on appeal. After filing his appeal, however, Sheridan retired from the MCSO, which the Ninth Circuit found dispositive with respect to Article III standing. As such, the Ninth Circuit erroneously dismissed the appeal as moot and found Sheridan liable for Plaintiffs' attorneys' fees on appeal pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b). The questions presented are:

  1. Whether direct, unretracted government action that continuously harms a litigant's reputation constitutes a sufficient injury-in-fact so as to afford a court Article III jurisdiction and save a case from mootness.

  2. Whether 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b) creates fee liability on appeal against a non-party civil contemnor who faced no personal liability on the merits of plaintiffs' underlying federal civil rights claims, but whose appeal of the district court's finding of civil contempt against him is dismissed for lack of standing.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
John Douglas Wilenchik
Wilenchik & Bartness, P.C.

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jun 25 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 05 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/21/2018.
  3. Jun 05 2018
    Reply of petitioner Gerard A. Sheridan filed. (Distributed)
  4. May 22 2018
    Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
  5. Apr 25 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 22, 2018.
  6. Apr 23 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 27, 2018 to May 22, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Mar 28 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including April 27, 2018, for all respondents.
  8. Mar 28 2018
    Brief of respondents Manuel de Jesus Ortega Melendres, et al. in opposition filed.
  9. Mar 26 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 28, 2018 to April 27, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. Feb 23 2018
    Motion of the Solicitor General to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including March 28, 2018.
  11. Feb 22 2018
    Motion of the Solicitor General to extend the time to file a response from February 26, 2018 to March 28, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  12. Feb 16 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including March 28, 2018.
  13. Feb 09 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 26, 2018 to March 28, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  14. Jan 22 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 26, 2018)