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William Leonard Pickard v. Department of Justice

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 17-15945 · judgment February 22, 2018

Certiorari denied · October 1, 2018

Pre-decision estimate: 10% cert probability (95% interval 7%–13%)

Before the decision, about 2.3× 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).

Question presented

Whether an informant who is compelled to testify by the federal government in a public criminal trial (and who otherwise openly and notoriously discloses his work as an informant for the government) is a “confidential” source within the meaning of Exemption 7(D) of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(D).

Counsel of record

For petitioner
David Lane Sobel
Law Office of David L. Sobel

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

Oct 01 2018
Petition DENIED. Justice Breyer took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.
Jul 03 2018
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/24/2018.
Jun 25 2018
Waiver of right of respondent Department of Justice to respond filed.
May 23 2018
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 25, 2018)