Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Ruben Gutierrez v. Luis Saenz, et al.
IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 21-70009 · judgment February 8, 2024
Question presented
In Reed v. Goertz, 598 U.S. 230, 234 (2023), this Court held that Rodney Reed has standing to pursue a declaratory judgment that Texas's post-conviction DNA statute was unconstitutional because ''Reed suffered an injury in fact," the named defendant "caused Reed's injury," and if a federal court concludes that Texas's statute violates due process, it is "substantially likely that the state prosecutor would abide by such a court order." In this case, a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to follow that ruling over a dissent that recognized that this case was indistinguishable from Reed. The majority formulated its own novel test for Article III standing, which requires scouring the record of the parties' dispute and any legal arguments asserted, to predict whether the defendants in a particular case would actually redress the plaintiff’s injury by complying with a federal court's declaratory judgment. Gutierrez v. Saenz, 93 F.4th 267, 274 (5th Cir. 2024). The Fifth Circuit's new test conflicts with Reed and creates a circuit split with the United States Courts of Appeals for the Eighth and Ninth Circuits, which have applied the standing doctrine exactly as this Court directed in Reed. See Johnson v. Griffin, 69 F.4th 506 (8th Cir. 2023); Redd v. Guerrero, 84 F.4th 874 (9th Cir. 2023). The question presented is: Does Article III standing require a particularized determination of whether a specific state official will redress the plaintiff’s injury by following a favorable declaratory judgment?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Anne Elizabeth Fisher
Federal Community Defender Office for the EDPA
For respondent
William Francis Cole
The Office of the Attorney General of Texas
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Amicus briefs
2 merits
(1 supporting pet./neither, 1 respondent)
Argument & decision
Argued February 24, 2025 — Anne E. Fisher · William F. Cole. Audio and transcript
Decided June 26, 2025. Opinion by Sotomayor.
Proceedings
- Jul 28 2025Judgment Issued.
- Jun 26 2025Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Sotomayor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Jackson, JJ., joined, and in which Barrett, J., joined as to all but Part II.B.2. Barrett, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. Thomas, J., filed a dissenting opinion. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Thomas and Gorsuch, JJ., joined.
- Feb 24 2025Argued. For petitioner: Anne E. Fisher, Assistant Federal Defender, Philadelphia, Pa. For respondents: William F. Cole, Deputy Solicitor General, Austin, Tex.
- Feb 14 2025Reply of petitioner Ruben Gutierrez filed. (Distributed)
- Feb 04 2025Record received electronically from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and available with the Clerk.
- Jan 24 2025Brief amici curiae of Arkansas, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Jan 17 2025Brief of respondents Luis Saenz, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Jan 13 2025CIRCULATED
- Dec 11 2024Documents under seal received electronically from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and available with the Clerk. The remainder of the record is electronic and is available on PACER.
- Dec 10 2024Brief amicus curiae of Constitutional Accountability Center filed.
- Dec 03 2024Brief of petitioner Ruben Gutierrez filed.
- Dec 03 2024Joint appendix (2 volumes) filed. (Statement of costs filed.)
- Nov 26 2024Record requested from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
- Nov 22 2024SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, February 24, 2025.
- Oct 22 2024Motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including December 3, 2024. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including January 17, 2025.
- Oct 18 2024Motion for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
- Oct 04 2024Motion to proceed in forma pauperis and petition for a writ of certiorari GRANTED.
- Jul 25 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/30/2024.
- Jul 16 2024Application (23A1160) referred to the Court.
- Jul 16 2024Application (23A1160) for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is granted pending the disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari. Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court.
- Jul 11 2024Reply of petitioner Ruben Gutierrez filed.
- Jul 09 2024Brief of respondent Luis Saenz in opposition filed.
- Jun 25 2024Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed.
- Jun 25 2024Application (23A1160) for a stay of execution of sentence of death, submitted to Justice Alito.