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N. S., Only Child of Decedent, Ryan Stokes, By and Through Her Natural Mother and Next Friend, Brittany Lee, et al. v. Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, No. 20-1526 · judgment May 31, 2022


Certiorari denied · June 30, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, an Eighth Circuit decision below, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a state or local-government respondent.

Questions presented

  1. Whether qualified immunity insulates a law enforcement officer from liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 if there is no factually identical precedent establishing the unconstitutionality of that officer’s conduct (as the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Circuits have held), or whether a constitutional right can be “clearly established” by precedent with some factual variation so long as the officer has fair notice that his conduct is unconstitutional (as this Court and the First, Third, Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits have held).

  2. Whether the judge-made doctrine of qualified immunity should be narrowed or abolished.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Raymond Patrick Tolentino
Howard Univ. School of Law Civil Rights Clinic

For respondent
Michael Thomas Raupp
Husch Blackwell LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 12 conferences

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Linked docket
22A280

Argument & decision

Decided June 30, 2023.

Proceedings

  1. Jul 07 2023
    Record returned to the U.S.C.A.-8th Circuit (1 box).
  2. Jun 30 2023
    Petition DENIED. Justice Sotomayor, dissenting from the denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion)
  3. Jun 29 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/29/2023.
  4. Jun 20 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/22/2023.
  5. Jun 12 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/15/2023.
  6. Jun 12 2023
    Rescheduled.
  7. Jun 05 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/8/2023.
  8. Jun 05 2023
    Rescheduled.
  9. May 30 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/1/2023.
  10. May 30 2023
    Rescheduled.
  11. May 22 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/25/2023.
  12. May 22 2023
    Rescheduled.
  13. May 15 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/18/2023.
  14. May 15 2023
    Rescheduled.
  15. May 09 2023
    Rescheduled.
  16. May 08 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/11/2023.
  17. Apr 25 2023
    Rescheduled.
  18. Apr 24 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/28/2023.
  19. Apr 17 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/21/2023.
  20. Apr 17 2023
    Rescheduled.
  21. Apr 06 2023
    Rescheduled.
  22. Mar 29 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/14/2023.
  23. Mar 24 2023
    Record received from the U.S.C.A.-8th Circuit (1 box).
  24. Mar 24 2023
    The record from the U.S.D.C.-Western District of Missouri is available on PACER.
  25. Mar 17 2023
    Record Requested.
  26. Mar 08 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/24/2023.
  27. Mar 06 2023
    Reply of petitioner N.S. filed. (Distributed)
  28. Feb 17 2023
    Brief of respondents Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, et al. in opposition filed.
  29. Jan 18 2023
    Brief amicus curiae of Fourth Amendment Alliance filed.
  30. Jan 11 2023
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 17, 2023.
  31. Jan 10 2023
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 18, 2023 to February 17, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
  32. Dec 09 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 18, 2023)
  33. Oct 05 2022
    Application (22A280) granted by Justice Kavanaugh extending the time to file until December 11, 2022.
  34. Sep 30 2022
    Application (22A280) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from October 12, 2022 to December 11, 2022, submitted to Justice Kavanaugh.