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Jamell Birt v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 19-3820 · judgment July 20, 2020

Certiorari denied · June 21, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 11% cert probability (95% interval 7%–18%)

Before the decision, about 2.7× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a petition filed soon after the judgment below, a Third Circuit decision below, and a circuit split argued in the petition.

Question presented

Section 404 of the First Step Act of 2018 makes the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive by authorizing courts to impose reduced sentences for “covered offense[s].” Pub. L. No. 115-391, § 404(b), 132 Stat. 5194, 5222. The term “covered offense” means “a violation of a Federal criminal statute, the statutory penalties for which were modified by section 2 or 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.” Id. Section 2 of the Fair Sentencing Act amended 21 U.S.C. § 841 by altering the crack-cocaine quantities associated with the three tiers of penalties in § 841(b)(1). The Act shifted Subparagraph (b)(1)(A)’s 10-year-to-life range from more than 50 grams to more than 280 grams; Subparagraph (b)(1)(B)’s 5-to-40-year range from between 5 grams and 50 grams to between 28 grams and 280 grams; and Subparagraph (b)(1)(C)’s 0-to-20-year range from less than 5 grams to less than 28 grams (or an unspecified quantity). The question presented is: Does the term “covered offense” in the First Step Act of 2018 include violations of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) involving crack cocaine to which apply the penalties in Subparagraph (b)(1)(C) (as the First, Fourth, and Seventh Circuits have determined) or not (as the Third, Sixth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits have held)?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Zachary Charles Schauf
Jenner & Block, LLP

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences

Amicus briefs
2 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Jun 21 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 14 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/17/2021.
  3. Mar 15 2021
    Letter of March 15, 2021 from counsel for petitioner filed.
  4. Jan 04 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/8/2021.
  5. Dec 07 2020
    Supplemental brief of petitioner Jamell Birt filed. (Distributed)
  6. Nov 24 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/11/2020.
  7. Nov 24 2020
    Reply of petitioner Jamell Birt filed. (Distributed)
  8. Nov 19 2020
    Letter waiving the 14-day waiting period for the distribution of the petition for a writ of certiorari pursuant to Rule 15.5. filed.
  9. Nov 18 2020
    Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
  10. Oct 29 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including November 18, 2020.
  11. Oct 28 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 4, 2020 to November 18, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  12. Oct 05 2020
    Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed.
  13. Oct 05 2020
    Brief amici curiae of American Civil Liberties Union, et al. filed.
  14. Oct 02 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 4, 2020.
  15. Sep 30 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 5, 2020 to November 4, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  16. Sep 01 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 5, 2020)