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James Daly v. City of De Soto, Missouri, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, No. 23-3223 · judgment June 27, 2024


Certiorari denied · January 13, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Whether a public official and his Municipality have the right to discharge from employment a subordinate public employee, due to the nature of that employee’s speech as to a matter of admitted public concern, more than a year after such alleged speech took place. The City of De Soto, Missouri’s belated decision to terminate James Daly’s employment violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Albert Frederick Kuhl
Law Office of Albert F. Kuhl

For respondent
Thomas Michael Ward
Brown & James

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jan 13 2025
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 18 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/10/2025.
  3. Dec 04 2024
    Brief of respondents De Soto, MO, et al. in opposition filed.
  4. Oct 31 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 4, 2024)