Supreme Court Report

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Johnnie Franklin Wills v. Michael Reger, Superintendent, Northern Correctional Facility

IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 22-6704 · judgment January 13, 2025


Certiorari denied · October 6, 2025

Question presented

Is a judicially crafted residual clause, which allows a life sentence to be imposed via a state recidivist statute only when certain underlying crimes meet the threshold of “(1) actual violence, (2) a threat of violence, or (3) substantial impact upon the victim such that harm results,” unconstitutional in light of this Court's holdings in Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S. 591, 135 S. Ct. 2551, 192 L. Ed. 2D 569 (2015); Sessions v. Dimaya, 584 U.S. 148, 138 S.Ct. 1204, 200 L.Ed.2d 549 (2018), and United States v. Davis, 588 U.S. 445, 139 S. Ct. 2319, 204 L.Ed.2d 757 (2019)?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Jeremy Benjamin Cooper
Blackwater Law PLLC

For respondent
Michael Ray Williams
Office of the West Virginia Attorney General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 06 2025
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jul 03 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025.
  3. Jul 01 2025
    Waiver of right of respondent Michael Reger to respond filed.
  4. Apr 14 2025
    Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due July 23, 2025)