Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Paul Hunt v. Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, No. 18-2149 · judgment November 14, 2019
Before the decision, about 2.5× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a state or local-government respondent.
Question presented
In 2012, Petitioner Paul Hunt was a student at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Mr. Hunt posted comments on his personal Facebook page concerning abortion and the recent presidential election. He did not identify himself as being affiliated with the University, did not reference the Medical School, and did not direct his comments to faculty, classmates, or any other individual. Yet Mr. Hunt was punished for violating the University’s Respectful Campus Policy and Social Media Policy because his political speech was deemed “unprofessional.” Mr. Hunt filed suit claiming, as relevant, that punishing him for engaging in political speech as a private citizen violated the First Amendment. The district court held that Respondents were entitled to qualified immunity and granted summary judgment. The Tenth Circuit affirmed. In the view of the court of appeals, there was no clearly established law that notified “reasonable medical school administrators that sanctioning a student’s off-campus, online speech for the purpose of instilling professional norms is unconstitutional.” The question presented is: Whether Respondents violated Mr. Hunt’s clearly established rights as a private citizen under the First Amendment by punishing him for his offcampus, political speech.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
William Spencer Consovoy
Consovoy McCarthy PLLC
For respondent
Stephen Samuel Hamilton
Montgomery & Andrews, P.A.
Proceedings
- Nov 23 2020Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Speech First GRANTED.
- Nov 23 2020Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Southeastern Legal Foundation GRANTED.
- Nov 23 2020Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by First Amendment Scholars GRANTED.
- Nov 23 2020Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, et al. GRANTED.
- Nov 23 2020Petition DENIED.
- Nov 16 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/20/2020.
- Nov 10 2020Rescheduled.
- Nov 09 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/13/2020.
- Nov 04 2020Rescheduled.
- Nov 02 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/6/2020.
- Oct 29 2020Rescheduled.
- Oct 26 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/30/2020.
- Oct 14 2020Rescheduled.
- Oct 13 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/16/2020.
- Oct 05 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/9/2020.
- Oct 05 2020Rescheduled.
- Sep 28 2020Rescheduled.
- Jun 18 2020Reply of petitioner Paul Hunt filed. (Distributed)
- Jun 17 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
- May 28 2020Brief of respondents Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico, et al. in opposition filed.
- May 18 2020Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Speech First.
- May 18 2020Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by First Amendment Scholars.
- May 18 2020Motion for leave to file amici brief filed by Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, et al.
- May 11 2020Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Southeastern Legal Foundation.
- Apr 22 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including May 29, 2020.
- Apr 21 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 18, 2020 to May 29, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
- Apr 10 2020Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 18, 2020)
- Jan 31 2020Application (19A860) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until April 10, 2020.
- Jan 30 2020Application (19A860) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from February 12, 2020 to April 10, 2020, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.