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Brandon Jones v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 19-95 · judgment July 16, 2020

Certiorari denied · June 21, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 6% cert probability (95% interval 4%–9%)

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel with five or more prior petitions here, a Second Circuit decision below, and a circuit split argued in the petition.

Question presented

18 U.S.C. 514(a) prohibits the use of “any false or fictitious instrument, document, or other item appearing, representing, purporting, or contriving through scheme or artifice, to be an actual [government] security or other financial instrument.” The question presented is whether Section 514(a) prohibits only the use of nonexistent types of documents and instruments (as the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits have held), or whether it also covers the use of fake versions of actual, existing types of documents and instruments (as the Eleventh Circuit and the Second Circuit in this case have held). (I)

Counsel of record

For petitioner
John Patrick Elwood
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jun 21 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 01 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/17/2021.
  3. May 31 2021
    Reply of petitioner Brandon Jones filed. (Distributed)
  4. May 14 2021
    Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
  5. Mar 23 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 14, 2021.
  6. Mar 22 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 14, 2021 to May 14, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Mar 10 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 14, 2021.
  8. Mar 09 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 15, 2021 to April 14, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  9. Feb 05 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 15, 2021)