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Kevin Sewell v. Maryland

Paid petition · Court of Appeals of Maryland, No. 20, September Term, 2018 · judgment April 2, 2019

Certiorari denied · October 7, 2019
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 a petition filed soon after the judgment below, and down for a state or local-government respondent.

Questions presented

  1. Whether Maryland’s law imposing a duty to report suspected child abuse or neglect on all persons in the State violates the First Amendment where it mandates speech.

  2. Whether Maryland’s law imposing a duty to report suspected child abuse or neglect on all persons in the State is overbroad in violation of the Due Process clause.

  3. Whether Maryland’s law imposing a duty to report suspected child abuse or neglect on all persons in the State is vague in violation of the Equal Protection clause.

  4. Whether Maryland’s law imposing a duty to report suspected child abuse or neglect on all persons in the State violates the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment where it permits anonymous reporting.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Erin C. Murphy
Silverman/Thompson/Slutkin/White

For respondent
Carrie J. Williams
Goodell DeVries Leech & Dann

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 07 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jul 17 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
  3. Jul 09 2019
    Waiver of right of respondent State of Maryland to respond filed.
  4. Jun 28 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 31, 2019)