Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Stephen Nichols v. Wayne County, Michigan, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 19-1056 · judgment August 18, 2020

Certiorari denied · June 1, 2021

Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel with five or more prior petitions here, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a Sixth Circuit decision below.

Questions presented

Whether due process requires municipalities, after seizing a vehicle in the name of civil forfeiture, to provide the vehicle owner a prompt hearing before a neutral judge to decide whether the municipality may, while litigating the forfeiture, deny the owner continued possession and use of the vehicle.
Whether a claim alleging municipal failure to afford a constitutional right requires a plaintiff to plead not only the existence of a policy denying the right but also the existence of policies denying all the means by which the right may be afforded.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Mahesha Padmanabhan Subbaraman
Subbaraman PLLC

For respondent
Kevin Andrew McQuillan
Kerr Russell

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

Jun 01 2021
Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Restore the Fourth, Inc. GRANTED.
Jun 01 2021
Petition DENIED.
May 20 2021
Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Restore the Fourth, Inc. (Distributed)
May 11 2021
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/27/2021.
May 06 2021
Waiver of right of respondent City of Lincoln Park to respond filed.
May 06 2021
Waiver of right of respondents Wayne County, Michigan, Kym Worthy, and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office to respond filed.
Apr 22 2021
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 26, 2021)