No. 20-1176

Trustees of the Thomas E. Proctor Heirs Trust v. Keta Gas & Oil Company, et al.

Lower Court: Pennsylvania
Docketed: 2021-02-25
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: due-process fourteenth-amendment internet-age mullane-standard mullane-v-central-hanover notice notice-requirements property-rights tax-sale
Key Terms:
DueProcess
Latest Conference: 2021-04-30
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does the Pennsylvania court's refusal to apply 'preconceived notions of what is reasonable in the age of the Internet,' in the context of a tax sale where the only notice given to a known owner was by publication in local newspapers, justify the categorical disregard of this Court's decision in Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306 (1950), which also preceded the 'age of the Internet' by decades yet held notice by publication was inadequate where the identity of the property owner was known?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires state governments to provide adequate notice before depriving a citizen of his or her property. U.S. Const. amend. XIV; Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306 (1950); Jones v. Flowers, 547 US. 220, 234 (2006). In this case, Pennsylvania courts once again have disregarded this constitutional requirement and ignored this Court’s precedent by permitting the deprivation of Petitioners’ property following notice given solely through newspaper publication, a method of notice that this Court views as little more than a “feint,” Mullane, 339 U.S. at 315, even though state officials actually knew the identities and whereabouts of the interested parties. This case presents the following question for this Court’s review: Does the Pennsylvania court’s refusal to apply “preconceived notions of what is reasonable in the age of the Internet,” in the context of a tax sale where the only notice given to a known owner was by publication in local newspapers, justify the categorical disregard of this Court’s decision in Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306 (1950), which also preceded the “age of the Internet” by decades yet held notice by publication was inadequate where the identity of the property owner was known?

Docket Entries

2021-05-03
Petition DENIED.
2021-04-14
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/30/2021.
2021-03-29
Waiver of right of respondent Anadarko E&P Onshore, LLC to respond filed.
2021-03-29
Waiver of right of respondent International Development Corporation to respond filed.
2021-03-16
Waiver of right of respondent SWN Production Company, LLC to respond filed.
2021-02-17
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 29, 2021)

Attorneys

Anadarko E&P Onshore, LLC
John Caviness O'QuinnKirkland & Ellis LLP, Respondent
John Caviness O'QuinnKirkland & Ellis LLP, Respondent
International Development Corporation
Catherine Spafford LoefflerHouston Harbaugh, P.C., Respondent
Catherine Spafford LoefflerHouston Harbaugh, P.C., Respondent
SWN Production Company, LLC
David R. FineK & L Gates LLP, Respondent
David R. FineK & L Gates LLP, Respondent
Trustees of the Thomas E. Proctor Heirs Trust
Paul Keidel StockmanKazmarek Mowrey Cloud Laseter LLP, Petitioner
Paul Keidel StockmanKazmarek Mowrey Cloud Laseter LLP, Petitioner