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Battle Born Investments Company, LLC, et al. v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 22-16348 · judgment August 18, 2023


Certiorari denied · October 7, 2024
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

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

Question presented

In a civil forfeiture action, the government bears the burden of proving that the property it seeks to forfeit is connected to unlawful activity. See 18 U.S.C. § 983(c). Any claimant with a “colorable interest in the property” has standing to file a claim. United States v. Seventeen Thousand Nine Hundred Dollars ($17,900.00) in U.S. Currency, 859 F.3d 1085, 1090 (D.C. Cir. 2017). This standard is “very forgiving” to ensure that legitimate claimants can contest the forfeiture of their own property. Id. at 1089–90 (quotation marks omitted). The question presented is: Where a claimant asserts an ownership interest, does the claimant’s standing at summary judgment require only some evidence of ownership, as six circuits hold, or also an explanation of how the claimant acquired ownership, as three circuits hold?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Rod J. Rosenstein
King & Spalding LLP

For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
23A816

Proceedings

  1. Oct 07 2024
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 14 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/30/2024.
  3. Aug 13 2024
    Reply of petitioners Battle Born Investments Company, LLC, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  4. Jul 29 2024
    Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
  5. Jun 18 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including July 29, 2024.
  6. Jun 17 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 28, 2024 to July 29, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. May 22 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including June 28, 2024.
  8. May 21 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 29, 2024 to June 28, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
  9. Apr 25 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 29, 2024)
  10. Mar 11 2024
    Application (23A816) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until April 25, 2024.
  11. Mar 01 2024
    Application (23A816) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 11, 2024 to April 25, 2024, submitted to Justice Kagan.