Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Josh Stein, Attorney General of North Carolina, et al. v. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc., et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 20-1776, 20-1777, 20-1807 · judgment February 23, 2023
Before the decision, about 3.3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a state or local-government petitioner, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a business respondent.
Question presented
The North Carolina Property Protection Act gives property owners a civil cause of action for certain torts committed in the nonpublic areas of their property. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 99A-2. It specifically bars employees from taking or recording information without authorization and using that information to breach their duty of loyalty to their employer. Id. § 99A2(b)(1), (2). A divided panel of the Fourth Circuit held that these prohibitions violate the First Amendment when applied to employees who have a “newsgathering” aim. The question presented is whether the First Amendment prohibits applying state tort law against double-agent employees who gather information, including by secretly recording, in the nonpublic areas of an employer’s property and who use that information to breach their duty of loyalty to the employer.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Ryan Young Park
North Carolina Department of Justice
For respondent
David Samuel Muraskin
FarmSTAND
Proceedings
- Oct 16 2023Petition DENIED.
- Oct 10 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/13/2023.
- Oct 02 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/6/2023.
- Aug 23 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/26/2023.
- Aug 23 2023Reply of petitioners Josh Stein, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Aug 09 2023Brief of respondents People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc., et al. in opposition filed. VIDED.
- Jul 10 2023Brief amici curiae of American Farm Bureau Federation, et al. filed. VIDED.
- Jul 10 2023Brief amici curiae of Utah, et al. filed.
- Jun 28 2023Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 9, 2023.
- Jun 26 2023Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 10, 2023 to August 9, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jun 09 2023Response Requested. (Due July 10, 2023)
- Jun 06 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/22/2023.
- May 30 2023Waiver of right of respondent People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc., et al. to respond filed.
- May 24 2023Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 26, 2023)