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John Pietsch, et al. v. Ward County, North Dakota, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, No. 20-1728 · judgment March 16, 2021


Certiorari denied · November 22, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability (95% interval 3%–8%)

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, an Eighth Circuit decision below, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).

Questions presented

  1. Does the violation of the “unconstitutional conditions doctrine” for an extortionate exaction under Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 837 (1987) and Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994), create a stand-alone cause of action?

  2. If the violation of the “unconstitutional conditions doctrine” for an extortionate exaction prior to a Fifth Amendment takings is a stand-alone cause of action, what is the appropriate remedy?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Karen Budd-Falen
Budd-Falen Law Offices, LLC

For respondent
John Edward Ward
Zuger Kirmis & Smith PLLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Nov 22 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Nov 02 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/19/2021.
  3. Nov 01 2021
    Reply of petitioner John Pietsch filed. (Distributed)
  4. Oct 15 2021
    Brief of respondents Ward County, North Dakota and the Board of County Commissioners for Ward County, North Dakota in opposition filed.
  5. Sep 08 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 15, 2021.
  6. Sep 03 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 15, 2021 to October 15, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Aug 12 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 15, 2021)