Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Douglas M. Folts v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, No. 25-0043


Certiorari denied · February 23, 2026
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces below and counsel who has filed here before.

Question presented

The free speech guarantee of the First Amendment applies to servicemembers. This guarantee is limited by military law and tradition. Part of that law and tradition is that military courts use this Court’s free speech jurisprudence when deciding the scope of the free speech guarantee for servicemembers. Despite this, military courts continue to rely on an outdated, abrogated obscenity standard that this Court has rejected. The question presented is: Whether the military’s obscenity standard is unconstitutional under Parker v. Levy and Miller v. California.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Trevor Nicholas Ward
U.S. Air Force, Appellate Defense Division

For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Feb 23 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jan 14 2026
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
  3. Jan 12 2026
    Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
  4. Dec 17 2025
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 20, 2026)
  5. Oct 15 2025
    Application (25A426) as to Mark A. Pulley granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until December 19, 2025.
  6. Oct 07 2025
    Application (25A426) as to Mark A. Pulley to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from October 20, 2025 to December 19, 2025, submitted to The Chief Justice.