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Kathrine Mae McKee v. William H. Cosby, Jr.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, No. 17-1256 · judgment October 18, 2017

Certiorari denied · February 19, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 7% cert probability (95% interval 4%–11%)

Before the decision, about 1.6× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a First Circuit decision below and a circuit split argued in the petition.

Question presented

Whether a victim of sexual misconduct who merely publicly states that she was victimized (i.e., “#metoo”), has thrust herself to the forefront of a public debate in an attempt to influence the outcome, thereby becoming a limited purpose public figure who loses her right to recover for defamation absent a showing of actual malice by clear and convincing evidence.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Frederick William Salo
F. William Salo, Esq.

For respondent
Sarah Elisabeth Kelly-Kilgore
Greenberg Gross LLP

Case

Subject area
First Amendment (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 13 conferences (14 distributions)

Linked docket
17A971

Argument & decision

Decided February 19, 2019.

Proceedings

  1. Feb 19 2019
    Petition DENIED. Justice Thomas, concurring in the denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion)
  2. Feb 04 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/15/2019.
  3. Jan 18 2019
    Rescheduled.
  4. Jan 14 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/18/2019.
  5. Jan 10 2019
    Rescheduled.
  6. Jan 07 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/11/2019.
  7. Jan 03 2019
    Rescheduled.
  8. Dec 20 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/4/2019.
  9. Dec 06 2018
    Rescheduled.
  10. Dec 03 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/7/2018.
  11. Nov 28 2018
    Rescheduled.
  12. Nov 26 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/30/2018.
  13. Nov 15 2018
    Rescheduled.
  14. Nov 13 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/16/2018.
  15. Nov 07 2018
    Rescheduled.
  16. Nov 05 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/9/2018.
  17. Nov 01 2018
    Rescheduled.
  18. Oct 29 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/2/2018.
  19. Oct 25 2018
    Rescheduled.
  20. Oct 22 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/26/2018.
  21. Oct 10 2018
    Rescheduled.
  22. Oct 09 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/12/2018.
  23. Oct 02 2018
    Rescheduled.
  24. Oct 01 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/5/2018.
  25. Sep 20 2018
    Rescheduled.
  26. Aug 15 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/24/2018.
  27. Aug 06 2018
    Reply of petitioner Kathrine Mae McKee filed.
  28. Jul 30 2018
    Brief of respondent William H. Cosby, Jr. in opposition filed.
  29. Jun 29 2018
    Response Requested. (Due July 30, 2018)
  30. Jun 20 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/24/2018.
  31. Jun 11 2018
    Waiver of right of respondent William H. Cosby, Jr. to respond filed.
  32. Apr 19 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 13, 2018)
  33. Mar 14 2018
    Application (17A971) granted by Justice Breyer extending the time to file until April 19, 2018.
  34. Mar 07 2018
    Application (17A971) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 20, 2018 to April 19, 2018, submitted to Justice Breyer.
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