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William B. Trescott v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 18-73488 · judgment January 15, 2021


Certiorari denied · October 4, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 0% cert probability

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

Questions presented

  1. Is it Constitutional for a court to defer to a person lacking professional experience under Chevron, U.S. A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), or does the 14th Amendment require “that the courts make certain that professional judgment in fact was exercised” as this Court ruled in Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U.S. 307 at 321 (1982)?

  2. Can an agency rely solely on public comments to determine that a state health and safety law is an “unreasonable burden on interstate commerce” as the 9th Circuit ruled in Inti B’hood of Teamsters, Local 2785 v. Fed. Motor Carrier Safety Admin., 986 F.3d 841, 857 (9th Cir. 2021), or if it thinks that the health effects are not problematic, does the Due Process Clause require it to “say so in the rule and to explain why” as the DC Circuit ruled in Public Citizen v. FMCSA, 374 F.3d 1209, 1217 (D.C. Cir. 2004)?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
William B. Trescott

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 04 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jul 14 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
  3. Jun 28 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to respond filed.
  4. May 21 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 28, 2021)