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Stepheno Jemain Alston v. South Carolina

Paid petition · Supreme Court of South Carolina, No. 2015-002134 · judgment March 7, 2018

Certiorari denied · October 1, 2018

Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Does South Carolina’s reasonable suspicion analysis, in the context of prolonged automobile detentions, violate due process when it fails to sufficiently narrow the category of presumably innocent travelers who are subject to seizure by law enforcement?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Elizabeth Anne Franklin-Best
Elizabeth Franklin-Best, PC

For respondent
Mark Reynolds Farthing
S.C. Office of the Attorney General

Case

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

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
17A1334

Order
Order list, October 1, 2018 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

Oct 01 2018
Petition DENIED.
Aug 08 2018
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/24/2018.
Aug 02 2018
Waiver of right of respondent South Carolina to respond filed.
Jul 30 2018
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 30, 2018)
Jun 01 2018
Application (17A1334) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until August 3, 2018.
May 24 2018
Application (17A1334) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from June 5, 2018 to August 4, 2018, submitted to The Chief Justice.
Main Document