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James Hall v. John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 16-16766 · judgment August 29, 2018

Certiorari denied · October 7, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly 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 an Eleventh Circuit decision below, and down for a state or local-government respondent.

Question presented

This Court has long recognized an exception to the mootness doctrine for a controversy that is “capable of repetition, yet evading review.” S. Pac. Terminal Co. v. ICC, 219 U.S. 498, 515 (1911). The courts of appeals are split over how this exception applies to cases involving elections. This case presents the following question: Under what circumstances can a candidate continue to challenge a ballot-access rule after the election over which he originally sued has passed?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
David I. Schoen
Attorney at Law

For respondent
Edmund Gerard LaCour Jr.
Office of the Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Linked docket
18A909

Proceedings

  1. Oct 07 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 14 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
  3. Aug 14 2019
    Reply of petitioner James Hall filed. (Distributed)
  4. Jul 31 2019
    Brief of respondent Secretary, State of Alabama in opposition filed.
  5. Jun 19 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including July 31, 2019.
  6. Jun 13 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 1, 2019 to July 31, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. May 29 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of The Coalition for Free and Open Elections filed.
  8. May 14 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 1, 2019.
  9. May 08 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 30, 2019 to June 29, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. Apr 29 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 30, 2019)
  11. Mar 08 2019
    Application (18A909) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until May 12, 2019.
  12. Mar 04 2019
    Application (18A909) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 13, 2019 to May 12, 2019, submitted to Justice Thomas.
    Main Document