Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, et al. v. Ivanka Talevski, Personal Representative of the Estate of Gorgi Talevski, Deceased
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 20-1664 · judgment July 27, 2021
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Questions presented
Since the high-water mark in Wilder v. Virginia Hospital Association, 496 U.S. 498 (1990), this Court has consistently rebuffed efforts to find privately enforceable rights in Spending Clause statutes. Indeed, several Justices have suggested that the entire project of enforcing such rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is mistaken: Spending Clause statutes are "much in the nature of a contract," Barnes v. Gorman, 536 U.S. 181, 185-86 (2002) (internal quotation marks omitted), and when Section 1983 was enacted, contracts in general-and contracts with governmental entities in particular-did not give rise to claims by third-party beneficiaries. The Seventh Circuit's decision below illustrates just how flawed this project is. Notwithstanding the Court's instructions to the contrary, see Pennhurst State Sch. and Hosp. v. Halderman, 451 U.S. 1, 18 (1981), and Gonzaga Univ. v. Doe, 536 U.S. 273, 289 n.7 (2002), the court of appeals relied on the appearance of the word "right" several times in the Federal Nursing Home Amendments Act of 1987 ("FNHRA") to hold that patients may use Section 1983 to second-guess garden-variety transfer and medication decisions-thereby federalizing much medical-malpractice litigation and nullifying important state medical-malpractice rules. This case presents the following questions:
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Whether, in light of compelling historical evidence to the contrary, the Court should reexamine its holding that Spending Clause legislation gives rise to privately enforceable rights under Section 1983.
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Whether, assuming Spending Clause statutes ever give rise to private rights enforceable via Section 1983, FNHRA's transfer and medication rules do so
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Lawrence Saul Robbins
Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP
For respondent
Andrew Timothy Tutt
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 4 conferences
Amicus briefs
2 cert-stage · 30 merits
(5 supporting pet./neither, 25 respondent)
Argument & decision
Argued November 8, 2022 — Lawrence S. Robbins · Benjamin W. Snyder · Andrew T. Tutt. Audio and transcript
Decided June 8, 2023. Opinion by Jackson.
Proceedings
- Jul 10 2023Judgment issued.
- Jun 08 2023Adjudged to be AFFIRMED. Jackson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed a concurring opinion. Barrett, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Roberts, C. J., joined. Thomas, J., filed a dissenting opinion. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Thomas, J., joined.
- Nov 08 2022Argued. For petitioners: Lawrence S. Robbins, New York, N. Y.; and Thomas M. Fisher, Solicitor General, Indianapolis, Ind. (for Indiana, et al., as amici curiae.) For United States, as amicus curiae: Benjamin W. Snyder, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For respondent: Andrew T. Tutt, Washington, D. C.
- Oct 17 2022Reply of petitioners Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Oct 11 2022Motion of the Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae, for divided argument, and for enlargement of time for oral argument GRANTED.
- Oct 11 2022Motion of Indiana, et al. for leave to participate in oral argument as amici curiae and for divided argument GRANTED.
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Former Members of Congress filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amicus curiae of California Medical Association filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amicus curiae of The Indiana Trial Lawyers Association filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Constitutional Accountability Center, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Statutory interpretation Law Scholars filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Indiana Disability Rights filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Children’s Health Care Providers and Advocates filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Members of Congress filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amicus curiae of Toby S. Edelman filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of National Center for Youth Law, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Former Senior Officials of The Department of Health and Human Services filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of The National Health Law Program, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amicus curiae of Daniel L. Hatcher filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Georgia Advocacy Office, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of National Association of Community Health Centers, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of AARP, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Retired Lawyers filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amicus curiae of Institute for Justice filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Contract Law and Legal History Professors filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 23 2022Brief amici curiae of Health Policy Scholars filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 22 2022Brief amicus curiae of Public Citizen filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 22 2022Brief amici curiae of The American Public Health Association, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 19 2022Brief amici curiae of Pennsylvania Association for Justice, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 16 2022Brief of respondent Ivanka Talevski, Personal Representative of the Estate of Gorgi Talevski, Deceased filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 12 2022Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 7th Circuit.
- Sep 12 2022The record from the U.S.C.A. 7th Circuit is electronic and located on Pacer.
- Sep 09 2022Motion of the Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae, for divided argument, and for enlargement of time for oral argument filed.
- Sep 09 2022Motion of Indiana, et al. for leave to participate in oral argument as amici curiae and for divided argument filed.
- Aug 31 2022CIRCULATED
- Aug 03 2022ARGUMENT SET FOR Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
- Jul 25 2022Amicus brief of National Conference of State Legislatures, et al. not accepted for filing. (Corrected version to be submitted - July 26, 2022)
- Jul 25 2022Brief amici curiae of National Conference of State Legislatures, et al. filed.
- Jul 25 2022Brief amicus curiae of United States in support of neither party filed.
- Jul 25 2022Brief amici curiae of Indiana, et al.filed.
- Jul 25 2022Brief amici curiae of American Health Care Association, et al. filed.
- Jul 25 2022Brief amicus curiae of Robert M. Kerr, Director of South Carolina Department of Health & Human Services filed.
- Jul 18 2022Brief of petitioners Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, et al. filed.
- Jul 18 2022Joint appendix filed. (Statement of costs filed)
- May 24 2022Motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' brief on the merits is extended to and including July 18, 2022. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including September 16, 2022.
- May 06 2022Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, et al.
- May 05 2022Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Ivanka Talevski, Authorized Representative of Gorgi Talevski, Deceased
- May 05 2022Motion for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
- May 02 2022Motion to substitute Ivanka Talevski, as authorized representative, as respondent in place of Gorgi Talevski, deceased GRANTED.
- May 02 2022Petition GRANTED.
- Apr 25 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/29/2022.
- Apr 18 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/22/2022.
- Apr 12 2022Rescheduled.
- Mar 29 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/14/2022.
- Mar 25 2022Reply of petitioners Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Mar 11 2022Brief of respondent Gorgi Talevski, by his next friend Ivanka Talevski in opposition filed.
- Mar 01 2022Motion under Rule 35.1 filed to substitute Ivanka Talevski, as authorized representative, as respondent in place of Gorgi Talevski, deceased.
- Jan 26 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including March 11, 2022.
- Jan 21 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 9, 2022 to March 11, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jan 10 2022Response Requested. (Due February 9, 2022)
- Jan 03 2022Brief amici curiae of Indiana, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Jan 03 2022Brief amici curiae of American Health Care Association and Indiana Health Care Association filed. (Distributed)
- Dec 29 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/14/2022.
- Dec 20 2021Waiver of right of respondent Gorgi Talevski, by his next friend Ivanka Talevski to respond filed.
- Nov 23 2021Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 3, 2022)