Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

James King v. Douglas Brownback, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 17-2101 · judgment February 25, 2019

Certiorari denied · March 30, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

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

Question presented

The use of joint state-federal police task forces has expanded nationwide and along with it the related practice of federally deputizing state law enforcement officers as task force members. Although this Court has explained that a federal law enforcement officer can act “under color of state law” for purposes of liability under 42 U.S.C. 1983, there is a split of authority among the circuit courts regarding whether a law enforcement officer’s membership in a task force renders his or her actions “under color of federal law” and provides per se immunity from liability under Section 1983. Does a law enforcement officer’s membership in a joint state-federal police task force managed, in part, by a federal agency preclude him or her from acting “under color of state law” for purposes of Section 1983?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Patrick Michael Jaicomo
Institute for Justice

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Proceedings

  1. Mar 30 2020
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Mar 23 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/27/2020.
  3. Feb 26 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/20/2020.
  4. Feb 21 2020
    Reply of petitioner James King filed.
  5. Feb 11 2020
    Brief of respondents Brownback, Douglas, et al. in opposition filed.
  6. Jan 17 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including February 11, 2020.
  7. Jan 16 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 21, 2020 to February 11, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  8. Dec 31 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 21, 2020.
  9. Dec 30 2019
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 6, 2020 to January 21, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. Nov 27 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 6, 2020)