No. 23-7099

Keatron Walls v. United States

Lower Court: Sixth Circuit
Docketed: 2024-03-28
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: civil-rights commerce-clause constitutional-law criminal-law due-process eighth-amendment mental-health sentencing sentencing-guidelines supreme-court-precedent variance-argument
Key Terms:
Environmental SocialSecurity Securities Immigration
Latest Conference: 2024-04-26
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Circuit Court of Appeals erred in holding that 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(1) is not an unconstitutional expansion of the Commerce Clause in light of this Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR REVIEW 1.) Whether the Circuit Court of Appeals erred in holding that 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(1) is not an unconstitutional expansion of the Commerce Clause in light of this Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, 142 8S. Ct. 2228, 213 L.Ed.2d 545 (2022), which was issued after Defendant’s trial; and 2.) Whether the Circuit Court of Appeals erred by completely disregarding United States Supreme Court precedent when it excused the District Court’s cursory review of Walls’ argument for a variance in contradiction of the holding in Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338, 356, 127 S. Ct. 2456, 168 L. Ed. 2d 203 (2007) in which the Supreme Court held that a defendant's non-frivolous argument for a downward variance from the Guidelines requires "the judge ... go further and explain why he has rejected those arguments"; and 3.) Whether the Circuit Court of Appeals erred in finding that the 444-month sentence was substantively reasonable and did not violate the 8m amendment to the United States Constitution in light of Defendant’s significant and welldocumented mental health illnesses and his lack of any criminal history record prior to the offenses at issue. iii

Docket Entries

2024-04-29
Petition DENIED.
2024-04-11
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/26/2024.
2024-04-04
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2024-03-25
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due April 29, 2024)

Attorneys

Keatron Walls
Alexander C WhartonThe Wharton Law Firm, Petitioner
United States
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent