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Judy Morrow Wright, et vir v. Matthew G. Buyer, et al.

Paid petition · Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Western Division, No. W2019-01157-COA-R3-CV · judgment March 2, 2021

Certiorari denied · January 10, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

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

Question presented

  1. Per Williams v. Pennsylvania, 579 U.S. 1, 136 S. Ct. 1899, 195 L. Ed. 2d 132 (2016) (“Williams”), because Petitioners’ Fourteenth Amendment right to have a trial judge (Concrete Pipe & Prods. of Cal., Inc. v. Constr. Laborers Pension Tr. for S. Cal., 508 U.S. 602, 617–18 (1993); Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507, 533 (2004); Marshall v. Jerrico, Inc., 446 U.S. 238, 248 (1980); North v. Russell, 427 U.S. 328, 345 (1976); Ward v. Vill. of Monroeville, Ohio, 409 U.S. 57, 61–62 (1972).) who has no appearance of undermined neutrality is a structural right (Williams, 136 S. Ct. at 1909 (“An unconstitutional failure to recuse constitutes structural error . . . ‘not amenable’ to harmless-error review, regardless of whether the judge's vote was dispositive.” (citing Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 141 (2009))); see also Weaver v. Massachusetts, 137 S. Ct. 1899, 1907–08, 198 L. Ed. 2d 420 (2017); Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 8 (1999); Ruelas v. Wolfenbarger, 580 F.3d 403, 410 (6th Cir. 2009); State v. Rodriguez, 254 S.W.3d 361, 371 (Tenn. 2008); Cottingham v. Cottingham, 193 S.W.3d 531, 537 (Tenn. 2006); Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510, 535 (1927).), is it constitutionally impossible for rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court to place unreasonable restrictions on

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Larry Edward Parrish
Parrish Lawyers, P.C.

For respondent
Matthew Thornton
Bouland Heflin Alvarez Minor & Matthews, PLC

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jan 10 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 19 2021
    Motion to delay conference by petitioner Judy Morrow Wright, et al. submitted.
    Main DocumentOtherOtherOther
  3. Dec 08 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/7/2022.
  4. Nov 22 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Matthew G. Buyer, et al. to respond filed.
    Main Document
  5. Nov 09 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 15, 2021)
    PetitionAppendixCertificate of Word CountProof of Service