Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Carter Page v. James B. Comey, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 23-5038 · judgment May 23, 2025
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
The Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained four warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to surveil Petitioner Dr. Carter Page. But its applications contained multiple errors, omissions, and misstatements that the FBI later concluded vitiated its showing of probable cause. Worse, it was later revealed that two agents leaked information about the FBI’s surveillance to the press, resulting in an April 2017 article in The Washington Post on which the government expressly “declined to comment.” The United States first acknowledged its surveillance abuses in an Office of the Inspector General report two years later. Less than a year later, Dr. Page sued the individual respondents—the FBI officials and leaders involved in the surveillance—for unlawfully surveilling him and unlawfully using or disclosing surveillance-obtained information. The D.C. Circuit held that Dr. Page’s claims accrued, not when the government acknowledged its abuses, but when Dr. Page became aware of the anonymously sourced, unverified news article. And the D.C. Circuit did so without applying—and in contravention of—this Court’s “standard rule” that a claim does not accrue “until the plaintiff can file suit and obtain relief.” Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of Fed. Rsrv. Sys., 603 U.S. 799, 810-811 (2024) (emphasis added). The question presented is: Do claims that the government violated surveillance authorities accrue as a matter of law based merely on facts that might lead a victim to suspect unlawful surveillance, rather than on facts that would establish a basis for relief?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Gene Clayton Schaerr
Schaerr | Jaffe
For respondent
Joseph Russell Palmore
Morrison & Foerster LLP
Proceedings
- Jun 15 2026Petition DENIED. Justice Jackson took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition. See 28 U. S. C. §455 and Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, Canon 3B(2)(e) (prior judicial service).
- May 26 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/11/2026.
- May 26 2026Reply of petitioner Carter Page filed. (Distributed)
- May 07 2026Letter of Petitioner Regarding Partial Settlement of Carter Page submitted.
- May 06 2026Brief of individual respondents Joe Pientka, III, et al. in opposition filed.
- Apr 23 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 6, 2026, for all individual respondents.
- Apr 22 2026Brief of respondent United States filed.
- Apr 22 2026Motion of Joe Pientka III to extend the time to file a response from April 22, 2026 to May 6, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Mar 19 2026The motions to extend the time to file responses are granted and the time is further extended to and including April 22, 2026, for all respondents.
- Mar 18 2026Motion of Joe Pientka III to extend the time to file a response from March 23, 2026 to April 22, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Mar 17 2026Motion of the Solicitor General to extend the time to file a response from March 23, 2026 to April 22, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Feb 19 2026The motions to extend the time to file responses are granted and the time is further extended to and including March 23, 2026, for all respondents.
- Feb 18 2026Motion of the Solicitor General to extend the time to file a response from February 19, 2026 to March 23, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Feb 18 2026Motion of respondents Joe Pientka III, et al. to extend the time to file a response from February 19, 2026 to March 23, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jan 20 2026Brief amici curiae of Southern Policy Law Institute, et al. filed.
- Jan 20 2026Brief amicus curiae of Liberty Justice Center filed.
- Jan 14 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 19, 2026, for all respondents.
- Jan 12 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including February 19, 2026.
- Jan 12 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 20, 2026 to February 19, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jan 08 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from January 20, 2026 to February 19, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Dec 11 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 20, 2026)
- Oct 03 2025Application (25A385) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until December 11, 2025.
- Sep 30 2025Application (25A385) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from October 12, 2025 to December 11, 2025, submitted to The Chief Justice.