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John J. Watford v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 21-1361 · judgment August 2, 2021


Certiorari denied · January 10, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 7% cert probability (95% interval 4%–12%)

Before the decision, about 1.7× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a petition filed soon after the judgment below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).

Question presented

Whether a district court may consider the 2018 amendment to the sentences mandated by 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) in determining whether a defendant has shown “extraordinary and compelling reasons” warranting a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i).

Counsel of record

For petitioner
John Gleeson
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
2 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Jan 10 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 22 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/7/2022.
  3. Dec 22 2021
    Reply of petitioner John J. Watford filed. (Distributed)
  4. Dec 21 2021
    Waiver of the 14-day waiting period to distribute the petition for a writ of certiorari under Rule 15.5 filed.
  5. Dec 15 2021
    Memorandum of respondent United States in opposition filed.
  6. Nov 15 2021
    Brief amici curiae of American Conservative Union Foundation Nolan Center for Justice and the Cato Institute filed.
  7. Nov 12 2021
    Brief amici curiae of FAMM and NACDL filed.
  8. Nov 10 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 15, 2021.
  9. Nov 09 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 15, 2021 to December 15, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. Oct 12 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 15, 2021)