Joshua D. Allen v. United States

In 1984, this Court acquired statutory certiorari jurisdiction over some decisions of what is now the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF). That jurisdiction, however, excluded review of any action by that court refusing to grant discretionary review of an intermediate military appellate court’s decision. Effective December 22, 2024, Congress amended the statute governing this Court’s certiorari jurisdiction over the CAAF to include “[d]ecisions of” that court in cases in which it refused to grant discretionary review. 28 U.S.C. § 1259. The resulting statutory regime presents significant questions concerning the nature of this Court’s certiorari jurisdiction over a CAAF decision denying discretionary review. May this Court review the decision of the intermediate military appellate court that the CAAF declined to review, similar to its practice in the 28 U.S.C. § 1257 context, or is this Court’s expanded jurisdiction limited to the CAAF’s denial of discretionary review itself? If the latter, what standard should this Court apply? Petitioners—four service members whose petitions for review the CAAF denied—ask this Court to decide this Question Presented: Does the amended version of 28 U.S.C. § 1259 give this Court supervisory authority over the CAAF’s denial of discretionary review and, where good cause is shown, to remand for plenary consideration?