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Arthur Seale v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 23-1088 · judgment September 10, 2024


Certiorari denied · May 19, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 6% cert probability (95% interval 4%–9%)

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Third Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a petition filed soon after the judgment below.

Question presented

Petitioner Arthur Seale successfully moved under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate one of his convictions on constitutional grounds. But the district court declined to conduct a full resentencing. Instead, it merely amended his criminal judgment to subtract the prison time attributable to the vacated conviction. Dr. Seale appealed from that amended criminal judgment, arguing that the district court should have resentenced him. The Third Circuit held that the certificate of appealability requirement in 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c) barred jurisdiction over Dr. Seale’s appeal. The question presented is: Can 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c) bar courts of appeals from exercising jurisdiction over cases like Dr. Seale’s?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Alison Brill
Office of the Federal Public Defender, D.N.J.

For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. May 19 2025
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Apr 24 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/15/2025.
  3. Apr 23 2025
    Reply of petitioner Arthur Seale filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
  4. Apr 07 2025
    Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
  5. Mar 31 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including April 7, 2025.
  6. Mar 28 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 31, 2025 to April 7, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Jan 30 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including March 31, 2025.
  8. Jan 29 2025
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 3, 2025 to March 31, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
  9. Dec 30 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 3, 2025.
  10. Dec 27 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 2, 2025 to February 3, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
  11. Nov 26 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 2, 2025)