Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Timothy Barton v. Securities and Exchange Commission
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 23-11237, 24-10004 · judgment April 17, 2025
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
The United States Government brought parallel criminal and civil enforcement actions against Petitioner Timothy Barton, alleging violations of the securities laws with respect to certain loans for real-estate development projects. The Securities and Exchange Commission brought the civil action, and it sought and obtained the seizure and placement into a receivership of every entity directly or indirectly controlled by Mr. Barton. That amounted to seizing all Mr. Barton’s assets and left him with no resources to defend against the Government. The Fifth Circuit reversed. On remand, the district court reimposed a receivership of similar scope, holding that Mr. Barton’s entire companies and their assets could be seized if they benefitted in any way or to the slightest degree from the proceeds of the disputed loans. A second, differently constituted panel of the Fifth Circuit affirmed and rejected any “proportionality limitation” on the benefit to a company from subject property before the Government could seize all its assets. App. 17a. The Constitution restricts the Government from seizing assets prior to judgment that a defendant needs to pay his defense lawyers. See, e.g., Luis v. United States, 578 U.S. 5 (2016). The Fifth Circuit’s infinitely flexible rule raises serious constitutional questions. Even when addressing congressional commands to seize property, this Court has never allowed seizure of whole companies for receiving even the smallest benefit from subject property. And this Court has not allowed agencies or courts invoking general equitable authority to come close to constitutional limits. The question presented is: Does 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5) and its authorization (i)
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Timothy Lynch Barton
For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General
Proceedings
- May 26 2026Rehearing DENIED.
- May 05 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/21/2026.
- Apr 24 2026Petition for Rehearing filed.
- Mar 30 2026Petition DENIED.
- Mar 19 2026Reply of petitioner Timothy Barton filed. (Distributed)
- Mar 11 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/27/2026.
- Feb 27 2026Motion of Libertarian Party of New York, et al. for leave to file amicus brief not accepted for filing. (April 30, 2026)
- Feb 27 2026Motion of Representative Anna Paulina Luna, et al. for leave to file amicus brief not accepted for filing. (April 30, 2026)
- Feb 25 2026Brief of respondent Securities and Exchange Commission in opposition filed.
- Jan 27 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including February 25, 2026.
- Jan 23 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 26, 2026 to February 25, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Dec 29 2025Brief amicus curiae of U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis filed.
- Dec 19 2025Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 26, 2026.
- Dec 18 2025Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 26, 2025 to January 26, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Nov 25 2025Response Requested. (Due December 26, 2025)
- Nov 18 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/5/2025.
- Nov 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of New Civil Liberties Alliance filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of Bitcoin Foundation filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of Open-Source AI Foundation filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 17 2025Brief amici curiae of Libertarian Party of Idaho, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 17 2025Brief amici curiae of United States Congressional Representatives filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of Project Veritas filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of Rio Grande Foundation filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 17 2025Brief amici curiae of Young Americans for Liberty, Inc., et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 13 2025Waiver of right of respondent United States Securities and Exchange Commission to respond filed.
- Oct 14 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 17, 2025)
- Sep 05 2025Application (25A265) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until October 14, 2025.
- Sep 03 2025Application (25A265) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from September 14, 2025 to November 13, 2025, submitted to Justice Alito.