Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Nyanza Cook v. Kelvin Willis, fdba Willis Legal Support Services, fdba Willis Legal Services, et al.
Paid petition · Court of Appeals of Texas, Third District, No. 03-23-00377 · judgment June 26, 2025
(petition-stage, structural)
Well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
Nyanza Cook has faced coercive contempt and related enforcement proceedings threatening incarceration while substantial, preserved objections to the legal foundation of those proceedings remained unresolved. What began as enforcement of a 2010 California judgment later expanded into Texas litigation marked by disputed assignment authority, the deaths of the original judgment creditors, the absence of probate administration, a dismissed enforcement action, and later receivership and sanctions orders entered after the underlying enforcement cause had been dismissed for want of prosecution. Despite repeated objections challenging the court’s continuing jurisdiction, authority, and the validity of the enforcement chain, the lower courts allowed coercive measures to proceed without first meaningfully resolving those foundational issues. Against that backdrop, the question presented is: Whether the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause permits a state court to continue coercive contempt, sanctions, and writ-of-attachment proceedings threatening incarceration where substantial, preserved objections to the court’s jurisdiction and enforcement authority remain unresolved, including disputes over the validity of the assignment chain, the deaths of the original judgment creditors, the absence of probate administration, and the continued effect of a prior dismissal for want of prosecution of the underlying enforcement action.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Nyanza Cook
For respondent
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Proceedings
- Jun 08 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 18, 2026)
- Apr 06 2026Application (25A1077) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until June 8, 2026.
- Mar 26 2026Application (25A1077) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from April 9, 2026 to June 8, 2026, submitted to Justice Alito.