No. 24-7479

Johnnie Franklin Wills v. Michael Reger, Superintendent, Northern Correctional Facility

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-06-23
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: constitutional-challenge criminal-sentencing due-process recidivist-statute residual-clause supreme-court-precedent
Key Terms:
DueProcess HabeasCorpus JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2025-09-29
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a judicially crafted residual clause allowing life sentences under a state recidivist statute is unconstitutional in light of recent Supreme Court precedents

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

Is a judicially crafted residual clause, which allows a life sentence to be imposed via a state recidivist statute only when certain underlying crimes meet the threshold of “(1) actual violence, (2) a threat of violence, or (3) substantial impact upon the victim such that harm results,” unconstitutional in light of this Court's holdings in Johnson v. United States , 576 U.S. 591, 135 S. Ct. 2551, 192 L. Ed. 2D 569 (2015); Sessions v. Dimaya , 584 U.S. 148, 138 S.Ct. 1204, 200 L.Ed.2d 549 (2018), and United States v. Davis , 588 U.S. 445, 139 S. Ct. 2319, 204 L.Ed.2d 757 (2019)? i

Docket Entries

2025-10-06
Petition DENIED.
2025-07-03
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025.
2025-07-01
Waiver of right of respondent Michael Reger to respond filed.
2025-04-14
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due July 23, 2025)

Attorneys

Johnnie Wills
Jeremy Benjamin CooperBlackwater Law PLLC, Petitioner
Michael Reger
Michael Ray WilliamsOffice of the West Virginia Attorney General, Respondent