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T. B., et vir v. P. M., et ux.

Paid petition · Supreme Court of Iowa, No. 17-0376 · judgment February 16, 2018


Certiorari denied · October 1, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability (95% interval 4%–8%)

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and counsel who has filed here before.

Questions presented

  1. Is a pregnant mother’s interest in her actual relationship with the child she carries during pregnancy and after birth protected as a substantive due process liberty under the Fourteenth Amendment whether or not she is genetically related to the child?

  2. Does a state’s enforcement of a surrogacy contract violate a woman’s liberty interest to be free from state enforced exploitation or her equal protection rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment?

  3. Is a woman’s constitutional right to be free from state-enforced exploitation, like the right not to be subject to slavery or involuntary servitude, unwaivable?

  4. Does a surrogacy contract executed by a woman before the child she carries is conceived, operate to waive the federal constitutional claims of the child or her own constitutional claims in a subsequent action to enforce the contract?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Harold J. Cassidy
The Cassidy Law Firm

For respondent
Kevin Christian Rigdon
Howes Law Firm, P.C.

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
17A1266

Proceedings

  1. Oct 01 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jul 18 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/24/2018.
  3. Jul 03 2018
    Brief of respondent P.M., et al. in opposition filed.
  4. May 31 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 5, 2018)
  5. May 16 2018
    Application (17A1266) granted by Justice Gorsuch extending the time to file until May 31, 2018.
  6. May 11 2018
    Application (17A1266) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from May 17, 2018 to May 31, 2018, submitted to Justice Gorsuch.