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Paul Clark v. Supreme Court of New Jersey
Paid petition · Supreme Court of New Jersey, No. 091572 · judgment April 9, 2026
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate: the model weighted this down for a self-represented petitioner.
Question presented
May a state sanction an attorney for criticizing the government, such as offering opinions in interviews with the press, or is such speech constitutionally protected? May a state add additional sanctions to an attorney under the heading of “refusal to accept responsibility” for nothing more than the attorney defending against the allegations, or does such an “aggravating factor” constitute an unconstitutional “trial penalty.”
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Paul Clark
For respondent
Phoenix N. Meyers
Office of the Attorney General State of New Jersey
Case
Subject area
Attorneys (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Order
Order list, October 13, 2026 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Oct 13 2026Petition DENIED.
- Sep 16 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/9/2026.
- Sep 10 2026Waiver of right of respondent Supreme Court of New Jersey to respond filed.
- Jun 18 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 14, 2026)