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James Tolle v. Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 21-2106 · judgment January 20, 2022


Certiorari denied · June 27, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 0% cert probability

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

Question presented

Does the Supreme Court's Mootness Doctrine found in Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOG), Inc., 528 U. S. 167 (2000), hereinafter "Friends", and Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 141 S.Ct. 63 (2020), hereinafter "Diocese of Brooklyn", have any consistent precedential value? The Circuit Courts seem to apply mootness liberally in contradiction to Friends and Diocese of Brooklyn whenever they feel like it. Is it an error under the Court's Mootness Doctrine if a court finds mootness after ignoring evidence of a Governor's promise to return to complained of restrictions in the future under conditions which are possible in the future? Can it be absolutely clear that complained of restrictions will not recur for mootness when a chief executive makes public statements promising such restrictions and it is reasonable to believe that the conditions for triggering the

Counsel of record

For petitioner
James Tolle

For respondent
Andrew Nathan Ferguson
Office of the Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jun 27 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 07 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/23/2022.
  3. Jun 01 2022
    Waiver of right of respondent Northam, Governor of Virginia, et al. to respond filed.
  4. Mar 29 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 2, 2022)