No. 22-1161

Steve Cooley, et al. v. National Abortion Federation

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2023-06-01
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response WaivedRelisted (2)
Tags: civil-injunction civil-rights contempt contempt-sanction criminal-defense due-process fair-ground-of-doubt sovereign-immunity younger-abstention
Key Terms:
DueProcess
Latest Conference: 2023-09-26 (distributed 2 times)
Related Cases: 22-1135 (Vide)
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the District Court can punish two criminal attorneys for contempt and sanction them $200,000 for using evidence in defense of their client in a state court criminal trial that the District Court has enjoined the use of

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED The constitutional issue addressed here is whether the District Court can punish two criminal attorneys for contempt and sanction them $200,000 for using evidence in defense of their client in a state court criminal trial that the District Court has enjoined the use of. More specifically, in a civil case against David Daleiden, the Federal District Court entered a preliminary injunction barring the use of certain videos. Subsequently, a California state criminal action was filed against Mr. Daleiden. As part of their defense of Mr. Daleiden, Petitioners—whom are criminal defense counsel—posted some of the videos to combat the attorney general’s attack on Mr. Daleiden in a public campaign. The District Court held Petitioners in contempt and issued a nearly $200,000 sanction. The Ninth Circuit denied appellate review until final judgment is entered. The Questions Presented Are: 1. Whether due process is violated when a contempt citation/directive did not clearly indicate whether Petitioners were to show cause for civil or criminal contempt? 2. Whether the Younger Abstention Doctrine must apply to these non-party criminal defense attorneys/ petitioners so they can provide effective assistance to their client without being held in contempt in a sovereign court that has no jurisdiction over them? 3. Whether the “fair ground of doubt” standard applies to Petitioners’ belief that a civil preliminary injunction did not apply to them when they disclosed information covered by the injunction in countering a massive public trial by the California State Attorney General that disclosed similar information covered by the same injunction?

Docket Entries

2023-10-02
Petition DENIED.
2023-08-23
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/26/2023.
2023-06-21
Rescheduled.
2023-06-06
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/22/2023.
2023-06-02
Waiver of right of respondent National Abortion Federation to respond filed.
2023-05-18
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 3, 2023)
2023-03-14
Application (22A806) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until May 18, 2023.
2023-03-09
Application (22A806) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 19, 2023 to May 18, 2023, submitted to Justice Kagan.

Attorneys

National Abortion Federation
James Reid SigelMorrison & Foerster, LLP, Respondent
Steve Cooley, et al.
Matthew Jay GeragosGeragos Law Group, Petitioner