Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Cynthia Stepien, on Behalf of Herself and Her Minor Child, et al. v. Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 21-3290 · judgment April 6, 2023


Certiorari denied · November 20, 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

  1. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in refusing to hear the merits of a First Amendment challenge to the forced masking of schoolchildren where the evidence demonstrated the absence of virtually all communication, speech and association among schoolchildren during the period of forced masking.

  2. Whether the Court’s holdings following Tinker recognize a First Amendment right to protection from state intrusion into ordinary or common speech that is non-political and whether schoolchildren are protected from the absolute loss of such rights by the effect of forced masking and isolation.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Bruce Ira Afran
Attorney at Law

For respondent
Daniel M. Vannella
Office of the New Jersey Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
22A1121

Proceedings

  1. Nov 20 2023
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Nov 01 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/17/2023.
  3. Oct 24 2023
    Waiver of right of respondent Governor of New Jersey, et al. to respond filed.
  4. Sep 05 2023
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 23, 2023)
  5. Jul 24 2023
    Application (22A1121) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until September 3, 2023.
  6. Jul 20 2023
    Application (22A1121) to extend further the time from August 4, 2023 to September 3, 2023, submitted to Justice Alito.
  7. Jun 28 2023
    Application (22A1121) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until August 4, 2023.
  8. Jun 24 2023
    Application (22A1121) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 5, 2023 to September 3, 2023, submitted to Justice Alito.