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The Lawyers' Committee for 9/11 Inquiry, Inc., et al. v. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General of the United States, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 21-1338 · judgment August 5, 2022


Certiorari denied · January 9, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 10% cert probability (95% interval 6%–14%)

Before the decision, about 2.3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Second Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a business petitioner.

Question presented

A. Did the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Act Contrary to the Constitution and in Conflict with Decisions of the Supreme Court When It Held that 9/11 Victim Family Members, 9/11 First Responders, and Two U.S. Non-Profit Organizations Needed to Assert Additional Harm Beyond a Violation of a Constitutional Right to Have Article III Standing to Seek Judicial Remedies? B. Did the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Act Contrary to the Constitution and in Conflict with Decisions of the Supreme Court When It Held that Federal Grand Juries Were Not Entities of the Federal Government to which the First Amendment Right to Petition Applies? C. Did the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Undermine the Constitutional Independence of the Grand Jury When It Refused to Enforce the Mandatory Duty Imposed Explicitly by Congress and Implicitly by the Constitution on United States Attorneys to Relay Citizen Reports of Federal Crimes to a Grand Jury, and Left to the Complete Discretion of the Department of Justice What a Grand Jury Is Allowed to See and Consider? D. Did the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Create a Clear Split Among the Federal Circuits When It decided to Not Adopt the Ninth Circuit’s Rule that Ministerial Records of a Federal Grand Jury May Be Made Available to the Public?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
John Michael Clifford
Clifford & Garde LLP

For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jan 09 2023
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 14 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/6/2023.
  3. Dec 08 2022
    Waiver of right of respondent Garland, Attorney General of the United States, Merrick, et al. to respond filed.
  4. Nov 03 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 8, 2022)