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Pedro M. Bess v. United States
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, No. 19-0086 · judgment May 14, 2020
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Questions presented
Exercising his authority under 10 U.S.C. § 825, a military commander hand-selected ten White members to sit on a general court-martial panel—the military equivalent of a jury—for a Black man charged with sexual misconduct against White women. Before selecting this all-White panel, the commander received a report showing the White women first identified their perpetrator not by a name, but by the color of his skin: Black. As the members entered the courtroom, the accused Black man, Hospital Corpsman Petty Officer Second Class (HM2) Pedro Bess, leaned towards his counsel and asked about the panel’s racial composition. His counsel stood, presented the issue to the military judge, challenged the panel on equal protection grounds, and moved for discovery. Reasoning that she could not see the members’ race, the military judge found no issue with the all-White panel. Later, the hand-selected White members convicted HM2 Bess. The lower courts affirmed without additional fact-finding, and to date, no one has answered HM2 Bess’s question about his panel: “Why aren’t there any Black people?” The Questions Presented are:
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Whether 10 U.S.C. § 825, as applied in Petitioner’s case, violates the Fifth Amendment.
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Whether the lower court erred in declining to remand Petitioner’s case for additional factfinding.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Clifton Earl Morgan III
U.S. Navy JAG Corps
For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Proceedings
- Jun 21 2021Petition DENIED.
- Jun 01 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/17/2021.
- May 28 2021Letter waiving the 14-day waiting period for the filing of a reply pursuant to Rule 15.5 filed.
- May 28 2021Reply of petitioner Pedro Bess filed. (Distributed)
- May 27 2021Reply of Pedro Bess not accepted for filing. (May 28, 2021)
- May 19 2021Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
- Apr 13 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 19, 2021.
- Apr 12 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 19, 2021 to May 19, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
- Mar 03 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including April 19, 2021.
- Mar 02 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 18, 2021 to April 19, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
- Feb 08 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including March 18, 2021.
- Feb 05 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 16, 2021 to March 18, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
- Dec 01 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including February 16, 2021.
- Nov 30 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 16, 2020 to February 15, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
- Nov 16 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 16, 2020.
- Nov 13 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 16, 2020 to December 16, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
- Nov 10 2020Motion of United States for an extension of time not accepted for filing. (November 13, 2020 - corrected letter to be submitted)
- Oct 09 2020Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 16, 2020)