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Elliott Schuchardt v. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 19-1366 · judgment March 2, 2020

Certiorari denied · October 5, 2020
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

On June 5, 2013, former United States government contractor Edward Snowden released documents indicating that the federal government was intercepting and electronically storing (“collecting”) the full content of e-mail in the United States without a warrant. The Petitioner, Elliott Schuchardt, is an attorney practicing law in Knoxville, Tennessee. On June 2, 2014, Schuchardt filed suit against the federal government, seeking an injunction to prevent collection of his e-mail, and that of the members of his proposed class. The issues in this case are as follows:

  1. Whether Schuchardt has presented sufficient factual evidence of Defendants’ bulk collection of e-mail to establish a prima facie case for violation of the 4th Amendment.

  2. Whether the executive branch of the federal government should have unfettered access to the nation’s e-mail database, without having to seek access through the courts.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Elliott J. Schuchardt

For respondent
Jeffrey B. Wall
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 05 2020
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 19 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
  3. Aug 07 2020
    Waiver of right of respondent President of the United States, et al. to respond filed.
  4. Jul 27 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 31, 2020)