Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
W. Clark Aposhian v. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, No. 19-4036 · judgment May 7, 2020
Before the decision, about 3.4× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).
Question presented
Since this Court’s 1984 decision in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), federal courts have deferred under certain circumstances to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous statutory terms. The question of statutory construction at the root of this case is the meaning of the term “machinegun,” a term defined at 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b). In 2018, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) reversed course and issued regulations that reinterpreted “machinegun” more expansively than it had previously. The court of appeals upheld the regulations, deferring under Chevron to ATF’s statutory interpretation despite the fact that (1) the federal government repeatedly insisted that its interpretation was not entitled to Chevron deference, and (2) almost all of Section 5845(b)’s applications call for criminal sanctions. The Questions Presented are:
-
Whether courts should defer under Chevron to an agency interpretation of federal law when the federal government affirmatively disavows Chevron deference.
-
Whether the Chevron framework applies to statutes with criminal-law applications.
-
Whether, if a court determines that a statute with criminal-law applications is ambiguous, the rule of lenity requires the court to construe the statute in favor of the criminal defendant, notwithstanding a contrary federal agency construction.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Charles Justin Cooper
Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 21 conferences
Amicus briefs
7 cert-stage
Proceedings
- Oct 03 2022Petition DENIED.
- Sep 12 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
- Jun 21 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/23/2022.
- Jun 21 2022Rescheduled.
- Jun 16 2022Rescheduled.
- Jun 13 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/16/2022.
- Jun 07 2022Rescheduled.
- Jun 06 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/9/2022.
- May 31 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/2/2022.
- May 31 2022Rescheduled.
- May 24 2022Rescheduled.
- May 23 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/26/2022.
- May 17 2022Rescheduled.
- May 16 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/19/2022.
- May 11 2022Rescheduled.
- May 09 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/12/2022.
- Apr 26 2022Rescheduled.
- Apr 25 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/29/2022.
- Apr 20 2022Rescheduled.
- Apr 18 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/22/2022.
- Apr 12 2022Rescheduled.
- Apr 11 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/14/2022.
- Mar 30 2022Rescheduled.
- Mar 28 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/1/2022.
- Mar 22 2022Rescheduled.
- Mar 21 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/25/2022.
- Mar 14 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/18/2022.
- Mar 14 2022Rescheduled.
- Mar 01 2022Rescheduled.
- Feb 28 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/4/2022.
- Feb 23 2022Rescheduled.
- Feb 22 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/25/2022.
- Feb 11 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/18/2022.
- Feb 11 2022Rescheduled.
- Jan 20 2022Rescheduled.
- Jan 18 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/21/2022.
- Jan 14 2022Rescheduled.
- Jan 10 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/14/2022.
- Jan 05 2022Rescheduled.
- Jan 04 2022Letter from amici Damien Guedes, et al. regarding legal name change of Firearms Policy Foundation to FPC Action Foundation received.
- Jan 03 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/7/2022.
- Dec 08 2021Supplemental brief of petitioner W. Clark Aposhian filed.
- Dec 06 2021Rescheduled.
- Nov 23 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/10/2021.
- Nov 22 2021Reply of petitioner W. Clark Aposhian filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 03 2021Brief of respondents Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, et al. in opposition filed.
- Oct 01 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including November 3, 2021.
- Sep 30 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 4, 2021 to November 3, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
- Sep 03 2021Brief amicus curiae of American Cornerstone Institute filed.
- Sep 03 2021Brief amici curiae of Damien Guedes, et al. filed.
- Sep 03 2021Brief amici curiae of West Virginia, et al. filed.
- Sep 03 2021Brief amici curiae of Gun Owners of America, et al. filed.
- Sep 03 2021Brief amicus curiae of National Rifle Association of America, Inc. filed.
- Sep 01 2021Brief amicus curiae of Due Process Institute filed.
- Aug 31 2021Brief amici curiae of David Codrea, et al. filed.
- Aug 19 2021Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, W. Clark Aposhian
- Aug 17 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 4, 2021.
- Aug 16 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 3, 2021 to October 4, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
- Aug 02 2021Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 3, 2021)