Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Jean Francois Pugin v. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 20-1363 · judgment November 30, 2021
Decided · June 22, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Questions presented
Consolidated with 22-331; Granted limited to the following question: to qualify as “an offense relating to obstruction of justice,” 8 u. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a noncitizen who is convicted of an "aggravated felony" is subject to mandatory removal and faces enhanced criminal liability in certain circumstances. One aggravated felony is "an offense relating to obstruction of justice." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(S). The questions presented are:
-
Whether a state offense-like petitioner's accessory-after-the-fact offense herethat does not involve interference with an existing official proceeding or investigation may constitute an "offense relating to obstruction of justice."
-
Whether, assuming that the phrase "offense relating to obstruction of justice" is deemed ambiguous, courts should afford Chevron deference to the Board of Immigration Appeals' interpretation of that phrase. THE PETITIONS FOR WRITS OF CERTIORARI ARE
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Michael R. Dreeben
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
For respondent
Mark Christopher Fleming
WilmerHale
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences
Amicus briefs
2 cert-stage · 6 merits
(1 supporting pet./neither, 5 respondent)
Argument & decision
Argued April 17, 2023 — Curtis E. Gannon · Martha Hutton · Mark C. Fleming. Audio and transcript
Decided June 22, 2023. Opinion by Kavanaugh.
Proceedings
- Jul 24 2023Judgment issued.
- Jun 22 2023Adjudged to be AFFIRMED (as to No. 22-23); Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED (as to No. 22-331). Kavanaugh, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Thomas, Alito, Barrett,, and Jackson, JJ., joined. Jackson, J., filed a concurring opinion. Sotomayor, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Gorsuch, J., joined, and in which Kagan, J., joined as to all but Part III. VIDED.
- Apr 17 2023Argued. For Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General: Curtis E. Gannon, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For Jean Francois Pugin: Martha Hutton, Washington, D. C. For Fernando Cordero-Garcia: Mark C. Fleming, Boston, Mass. VIDED.
- Apr 07 2023Consolidated reply brief of Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General filed. VIDED (Distributed)
- Apr 03 2023Motion for divided argument filed by petitioner in No. 22-23 and respondent in No. 22-331 GRANTED. VIDED.
- Mar 24 2023CIRCULATED
- Mar 24 2023Brief amici curiae of Immigrant Defense Project, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
- Mar 24 2023Brief amicus curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
- Mar 24 2023Brief amici curiae of National Immigrant Justice Center, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
- Mar 24 2023Brief amici curiae of Criminal Law Scholars filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
- Mar 24 2023Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Federal Defenders filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
- Mar 17 2023Brief of respondent Fernando Cordero-Garcia (as to 22-331) filed.
- Mar 17 2023Brief of petitioner Jean Francois Pugin filed (as to 22-23).
- Mar 17 2023Motion for divided argument filed by petitioner in No. 22-23 and respondent in No. 22-331. VIDED.
- Mar 15 2023Records from the Board of Immigration Appeals were transmitted electronically.
- Mar 06 2023Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by the Solicitor General GRANTED. VIDED.
- Feb 22 2023Brief amicus curiae of Immigration Reform Law Institute filed. VIDED.
- Feb 15 2023Consolidated opening brief on the merits of Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General filed. VIDED.
- Feb 15 2023Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General. VIDED.
- Feb 09 2023All sealed records from the USCA-4th Circuit were transmitted electronically. The remaining 4th Circuit documents are available on PACER. The record request was also transmitted to the lower court.
- Feb 08 2023Record requested from the U.S.C.A.-4th Circuit.
- Jan 31 2023SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, April 17, 2023. VIDED.
- Jan 30 2023The briefing proposal set forth in the Solicitor General’s letter of January 26, 2023, is adopted. The Solicitor General shall file consolidated opening and reply briefs on the merits under the schedules set forth in Rules 25.1 and 25.3. The consolidated opening brief on the merits is limited to 17,000 words, and the consolidated reply brief is limited to 9,000 words. Any brief of an amicus curiae in support, or in support of neither party, shall bear a light green cover. Petitioner in No. 22-23 and respondent in No. 22-331 may each file a brief on the merits under the schedule set forth in Rule 25.2, and the briefs shall bear light red covers. Any brief of an amicus curiae in support shall bear a dark green cover. VIDED.
- Jan 26 2023Letter proposing a briefing schedule filed by the Solicitor General on behalf of the parties. VIDED.
- Jan 13 2023Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 22-331 is GRANTED. The petitions are granted limited to the following question: To qualify as “an offense relating to obstruction of justice,” 8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(43)(S), must a predicate offense require a nexus with a pending or ongoing investigation or judicial proceeding? The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED. (Corrected order - 1/18/23).
- Jan 13 2023Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 22-23. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 22-23. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
- Jan 13 2023As Rule 34.6 provides, “If the Court schedules briefing and oral argument in a case that was governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c) or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1(c), the parties shall submit electronic versions of all prior and subsequent filings with this Court in the case, subject to [applicable] redaction rules.” Subsequent party and amicus filings in the case should now be submitted through the Court’s electronic filing system, with any necessary redactions.
- Jan 09 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/13/2023.
- Dec 21 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/6/2023.
- Nov 02 2022Rescheduled.
- Oct 25 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/10/2022.
- Oct 21 2022Reply of petitioner Jean Francois Pugin filed.
- Oct 07 2022Brief of respondent Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General filed.
- Sep 01 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including October 7, 2022.
- Aug 31 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 7, 2022 to October 7, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
- Aug 08 2022Brief amici curiae of West Virginia and 8 Other States filed.
- Aug 05 2022Brief amicus curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation filed.
- Jul 21 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including September 7, 2022.
- Jul 20 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response from August 8, 2022 to September 7, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jul 05 2022
- Apr 19 2022Application (21A608) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until July 6, 2022.
- Apr 12 2022Application (21A608) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from June 5, 2022 to July 6, 2022, submitted to The Chief Justice.
- Apr 12 2022Pursuant to Rule 34.6 and Paragraph 9 of the Guidelines for the Submission of Documents to the Supreme Court's Electronic Filing System, filings in this case should be submitted in paper form only, and should not be submitted through the Court's electronic filing system.