Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Stephen Joseph Johnson v. Montana
Paid petition · Supreme Court of Montana, No. DA 23-0581 · judgment February 24, 2026
Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a petition filed soon after the judgment below, and a circuit split argued in the petition, and down for a petition of 3,000 to 6,000 words and a state or local-government respondent.
Question presented
What is the appropriate standard for assessing whether the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment permits a prosecution witness to testify by two-way video?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Stuart Banner
UCLA School of Law Supreme Court Clinic
For respondent
Christian B. Corrigan
Montana Department of Justice
Case
Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences
Order
Order list, October 13, 2026 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Oct 13 2026Petition DENIED.
- Sep 23 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/9/2026.
- Sep 15 2026Reply of Stephen Joseph Johnson not accepted for filing. (To be corrected - September 18, 2026)
- Sep 15 2026Reply of petitioner Stephen Joseph Johnson filed. (Corrected)
- Sep 04 2026Brief of respondent Montana in opposition filed.
- Jul 10 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including September 4, 2026.
- Jul 09 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from August 5, 2026 to September 4, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jul 06 2026Response Requested. (Due August 5, 2026)
- Jun 24 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2026.
- May 06 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 10, 2026)