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Levian dela Car Pacheco Pacheco, aka Levian D. Pacheco v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 19-10014 · judgment October 6, 2020

Certiorari denied · May 17, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

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

Question presented

Congress has made it a crime to engage in certain sexual acts with detainees who are “pending deportation.” 18 U.S.C. §§ 2243(b), 2244(a)(4), 2246(5)(A). The court of appeals interpreted “pending deportation” to encompass not only those ordered deported and awaiting deportation but also those awaiting proceedings to determine whether they should be deported at all. Did the court of appeals deviate from this Court’s method of statutory interpretation?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Keith James Hilzendeger
Federal Public Defender, District of Arizona

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. May 17 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Apr 27 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/13/2021.
  3. Apr 20 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
  4. Apr 07 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 12, 2021)