Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General v. Fernando Cordero-Garcia, aka Fernando Cordero
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 19-72779 · judgment August 15, 2022
Decided · June 22, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 53% cert probability (95% interval 42%–63%)
Before the decision, about 12.8× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a federal-government petitioner, counsel who has won certiorari before, and a petition filed soon after the judgment below.
Question presented
Consolidated with 22-23; Granted limited to the following question: to qualify as “an offense relating to obstruction of justice,” 8 u. Whether dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, in violation of California law, is "an offense relating to obstruction of justice," 8 U.S.C. 110l(a)(43)(S). THE PETITIONS FOR WRITS OF CERTIORARI ARE
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General
For respondent
Mark Christopher Fleming
WilmerHale
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences
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 2023Judgment 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.
- Mar 24 2023CIRCULATED
- Mar 17 2023Records from the Board of Immigration Appeals were transmitted electronically.
- Mar 01 2023Electronic record containing sealed materials received from U.S.C.A.-9th Circuit.
- Feb 08 2023Record requested from the U.S.C.A.-9th 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 13 2023Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 22-23 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.
- Dec 21 2022Reply of petitioner Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General filed. (Distributed)
- Dec 07 2022Brief of respondent Fernando Cordero-Garcia in opposition filed.
- Oct 26 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 7, 2022.
- Oct 25 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 7, 2022 to December 7, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
- Oct 07 2022Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 7, 2022)
- Oct 07 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.