Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Stephen Buyer v. United States
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 23-7202, 23-7745 · judgment March 19, 2025
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
This criminal case involves allegations of insider trading. The Constitution, the U.S. Code, and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure all require that a criminal defendant be tried where his crime was (allegedly) committed. In the modern era of electronic trading, trades are no longer executed on physical trading floors, but are instead processed on computer servers that may be located anywhere. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has nonetheless doubled down on its outdated precedent holding that a stock exchange’s brick-and-mortar headquarters in Manhattan suffices to establish venue for an insidertrading offense in the Southern District of New York, regardless of where the trades in question actually executed. This rule effectively grants the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York carte blanche to prosecute virtually all insider-trading cases, an outcome fundamentally at odds with the Founders’ “deep and abiding antipathy to letting the government arbitrarily choose a venue in criminal prosecutions.” United States v. Fortenberry, 89 F.4th 702, 712 (9th Cir. 2023). The question presented is whether a stock trading on an exchange whose physical headquarters is located in Manhattan suffices to establish venue in the Southern District of New York for insider-trading charges related to that stock.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Daniel Adam Rubens
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General
Proceedings
- May 18 2026Petition DENIED.
- Apr 22 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/14/2026.
- Apr 20 2026Reply of petitioner Stephen Buyer filed. (Distributed)
- Apr 08 2026Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
- Mar 06 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including April 8, 2026.
- Mar 04 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 9, 2026 to April 8, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jan 29 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including March 9, 2026.
- Jan 28 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from February 6, 2026 to March 9, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jan 16 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 6, 2026.
- Jan 14 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 7, 2026 to February 6, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Dec 08 2025Response Requested. (Due January 7, 2026)
- Nov 25 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/12/2025.
- Nov 20 2025Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
- Nov 10 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 15, 2025)
- Aug 22 2025Application (25A205) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until November 10, 2025.
- Aug 14 2025Application (25A205) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from September 9, 2025 to November 8, 2025, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.