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David Douglas Fennell v. Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 20-16487 · judgment September 20, 2021


Certiorari denied · October 3, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 0% cert probability

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

Question presented

Is California’s anti-SLAPP law which allows California to ban Republicans from assembling and running for office as a “matter of public interest” in violation of the U.S. Constitutions Right to Assemble? Does California’s anti-SLAPP law which redefines Federal white-collar crime and political influence peddling as legal as a “matter of public interest” cause a conflict between California and Federal law that needs to be decided by the highest court? Can you apply California’s anti-SLAPP law against Republicans and not Democrats or does that violate the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause? Similar anti-SLAPP laws have been struck down in other states as unconstitutional as it deprives citizens access to a jury trial; shouldn’t the California anti-SLAPP law be struck down on similar grounds?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
David Douglas Fennell

For respondent
Natasha Saggar Sheth
Office of the California Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 03 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 31 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
  3. Aug 19 2022
    Waiver of right of respondent Rob Bonta, California Attorney General to respond filed.
  4. Mar 28 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 19, 2022)