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Arkansas v. Charles Gresham, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 19-5094, 19-5096 · judgment February 14, 2020

Decided · May 20, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 23% cert probability (95% interval 16%–33%)

Before the decision, about 5.7× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a D.C. Circuit decision below, and a circuit split argued in the petition.

Question presented

The Social Security Act authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to approve "any experimental, pilot, or demonstration project which, in the judgment of the Secretary, is likely to assist in promoting the objectives" of a host of state-administered welfare programs including Medicaid. Here, Arkansas sought approval to test the hypothesis that conditioning Medicaid expansion benefits on work, education, or volunteering would lead to healthier outcomes for its beneficiaries. The Secretary agreed, predicting that Arkansas's proposal would likely improve beneficiary health and promote independence from governmental support. On review, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that approval unlawful. It did not hold that the Secretary's prediction of health benefits was unreasonable, or even that the Secretary failed to weigh those benefits against the project's potential costs. Rather, it held the Secretary could not even consider them because, in its view, the objective of Medicaid is expanding the ranks of those on Medicaid and beneficiary health is beyond the Secretary's remit. The question presented is: Whether the Secretary's approval of the Arkansas Works Amendment was lawful. Consolidated with 20-37 and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument ORDER OF APRIL 5, 2021: UPON CONSIDERATION OF THE MOTION OF PETITIONERS TO VACATE THE JUDGMENTS OF THE COURT OF APPEALS AND REMAND, TO REMOVE THE CASES FROM THE MARCH 2021 ARGUMENT CALENDAR, AND TO HOLD FURTHER BRIEFING IN ABEYANCE, THESE CASES ARE HELD IN ABEYANCE PENDING FURTHER ORDER OF THE COURT.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Nicholas Jacob Bronni
Solicitor General of Arkansas

For respondent
Ian Heath Gershengorn
Jenner & Block

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Related
Vide, 20-37

Argument & decision

Decided May 20, 2022.

Proceedings

  1. May 20 2022
    Judgment Issued
  2. Apr 18 2022
    The motion to vacate the judgments is granted. The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Nos. 19-5094 and 19-5096 is vacated, and the cases are remanded to that court with instructions to direct the District Court to vacate its judgment and dismiss the case as moot. See United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 340 U. S. 36 (1950). The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Nos. 19-5293 and 19-5295 is vacated, and the cases are remanded to that court with instructions to direct the District Court to remand to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. VIDED.
  3. Apr 05 2021
    Upon consideration of the motion of petitioners to vacate the judgments of the court of appeals and remand, to remove the cases from the March 2021 argument calendar, and to hold further briefing in abeyance, these cases are held in abeyance pending further order of the Court. VIDED.
  4. Mar 11 2021
    Nos. 20-37 and 20-38 are removed from the calendar for the March 2021 argument session. VIDED.
  5. Feb 25 2021
    Amicus brief of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society not accepted for filing. (April 28, 2021--to be filed in lead case No. 20-37)
  6. Feb 23 2021
    Amicus brief of Nebraska Appleseed not accepted for filing. (April 28, 2021--to be filed in lead case No. 20-37)
  7. Feb 22 2021
    CIRCULATED.
  8. Feb 08 2021
    Record from the U.S.C.A. District of Columbia Circuit is electronic and located on Pacer.
  9. Feb 08 2021
    Record from the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts are electronic and located on Pacer.
  10. Feb 04 2021
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A. D.C. Circuit.
  11. Feb 01 2021
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, March 29, 2021. VIDED.
  12. Dec 04 2020
    Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 20-37 is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
  13. Dec 04 2020
    Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 20-37. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 20-37. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
  14. Nov 30 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/4/2020.
  15. Nov 04 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/20/2020.
  16. Nov 04 2020
    Reply of petitioner State of Arkansas filed. (Distributed)
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  17. Oct 16 2020
    Brief of respondents Charles Gresham, et al. in opposition filed. VIDED.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  18. Aug 10 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 16, 2020.
  19. Aug 07 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from August 17, 2020 to October 16, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
    Main Document
  20. Jul 13 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 17, 2020)
    PetitionCertificate of Word CountProof of Service