Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
William T. Cooley v. United States
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, No. 25-0277 · judgment January 6, 2026
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate: the model weighted this down for a petition under 3,000 words.
Question presented
Major General William T. Cooley was found guilty of one nonconsensual kiss. For that conviction, he was sentenced to forfeit over $50,000 of his pay. The Government demonstrated no harm to any party to justify such a high fine and no state law equivalent permits a fine of this size. Does General Cooley’s sentence to forfeit over $50,000 of his pay constitute an “excessive fine[] imposed” in violation of the Eighth Amendment?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Trevor Nicholas Ward
U.S. Air Force Appellate Defense Division
For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General
Case
Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Linked docket
25A1062
Order
Order list, October 5, 2026 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Oct 05 2026Petition DENIED.
- Jul 01 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2026.
- Jun 24 2026Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
- Jun 04 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 8, 2026)
- Mar 30 2026Application (25A1062) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until June 5, 2026.
- Mar 24 2026Application (25A1062) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from April 6, 2026 to June 5, 2026, submitted to The Chief Justice.