Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Kevin Isaac Montoya Palacios v. Vernon Liggins, Acting Field Office Director, Baltimore, Maryland, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 26-6251 · judgment March 24, 2026
Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a petition filed soon after the judgment below and a Fourth Circuit decision below.
Question presented
The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) provides that, "in any civil action (other than cases sounding in tort)" by or against the federal government, a court shall award to a prevailing party its fees and costs, unless the court finds certain exceptions present. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) (1)(A). The question presented is whether, under EAJA, "any civil action" encompasses an action seeking a writ of habeas corpus to challenge civil immigration detention.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
William Eugene Evans
Goodwin Procter LLP
For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences
Proceedings
- Aug 26 2026Motion to further extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including September 16, 2026. The time to file respondents' brief on the merits is extended to and including November 19, 2026.
- Aug 25 2026Motion for a further extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
- Aug 13 2026Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner Kevin I. Montoya Palacios.
- Jul 30 2026As Rule 34.6 provides, “If the Court schedules briefing and oral argument in a case that was governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c) or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1(c), the parties shall submit electronic versions of all prior and subsequent filings with this Court in the case, subject to [applicable] redaction rules.” Subsequent party and amicus filings in the case should now be submitted through the Court’s electronic filing system, with any necessary redactions.
- Jul 30 2026Motion for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
- Jul 30 2026Motion 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 August 31, 2026. The time to file respondents' brief on the merits is extended to and including October 23, 2026.
- Jun 29 2026Motion for leave file amici brief out of time filed by Eva Daley, et al. DENIED.
- Jun 29 2026Petition GRANTED.
- Jun 22 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/25/2026.
- Jun 12 2026Reply of petitioner Kevin I. Montoya Palacios filed. (Distributed)
- Jun 11 2026Motion for leave to file amici brief out of time filed by Eva Daley, et al. (Distributed)
- Jun 02 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/18/2026.
- May 29 2026Waiver of the 14-day waiting period for the distribution of the petition pursuant to Rule 15.5 filed by petitioner.
- May 28 2026Brief of respondents Vernon Liggins, Acting Field Office Director, et al. filed.
- Apr 20 2026
- Apr 20 2026Pursuant to Rule 34.6 and Paragraph 9 of the Guidelines for the Submission of Documents to the Supreme Court's Electronic Filing System, filings in this case should be submitted in paper form only, and should not be submitted through the Court's electronic filing system.