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Libertarian Party of Erie County, et al. v. Andrew M. Cuomo, Individually and as Governor of the State of New York, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 18-386 · judgment August 11, 2020

Certiorari denied · June 21, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 6% cert probability (95% interval 4%–10%)

Before the decision, about 1.5× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Second Circuit decision below, 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.

Questions presented

This case presents one big issue that necessarily requires the resolution of a number of critical subsidiary issues.

  1. Should the State of New York, in all of its three branches of government, working in unison, be allowed to continue to blatantly violate the right to bear arms as recognized by this Court in the landmark decisions of District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570

  2. and McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), through its arbitrary, complex and onerous pistol permit process which forces citizens to seek the permission of neighbors, police officers and licensing officials to exercise a fundamental right and which vests in licensing officials virtually unlimited discretion to deny, suspend or revoke handgun permits while ignoring due process, and which forces citizens to endure a lengthy, expensive and complex permit application process? Resolving this question requires the resolution of the following additional questions:

  3. Is intermediate scrutiny a proper standard for reviewing statutes that burden the Second Amendment?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Michael Kuzma
Michael Kuzma

For respondent
Barbara Dale Underwood
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 29 2021
    Letter of May 29, 2021 from counsel for respondents written to correct factual error in brief in opposition filed.
  4. May 27 2021
    Reply of petitioners Libertarian Party of Erie County, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  5. May 25 2021
    Brief of respondents Andrew M. Cuomo, et al. in opposition filed.
  6. Apr 16 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted in part; the time is extended to and including May 25, 2021.
  7. Apr 15 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 26, 2021 to May 26, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  8. Mar 23 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 26, 2021.
  9. Mar 20 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 25, 2021 to April 26, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. Mar 09 2021
    Supplemental brief of petitioners Libertarian Party of Erie County, et al. filed.
  11. Feb 09 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 25, 2021)