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Graham B. Spanier v. Chad Libby, Director, Dauphin County Probation Services, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 19-2228 · judgment December 1, 2020

Certiorari denied · May 24, 2021

Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

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

Questions presented

May a state prosecute a defendant for violating a statute enacted after the defendant’s conduct, without violating the Ex Post Facto Clause, merely because the statute does not indicate that it applies retroactively?
Does the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause preclude a state from obtaining a conviction on the basis of a jury instruction that uses the precise language of a criminal statute enacted after the defendant’s conduct and that broadens the scope of criminal liability?

For petitioner
Bruce Philip Merenstein
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP

For respondent
Ronald Eisenberg
Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

May 24 2021
Petition DENIED.
May 04 2021
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/20/2021.
Apr 30 2021
Waiver of right of respondent Chad Libby, Director, Dauphin County Probation Services, et al. to respond filed.
Apr 05 2021
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 7, 2021)