No. 24-843

Zackary Ellis Sanders v. United States

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-02-07
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: actus-reus criminal-law federal-criminal-statute purpose-requirement statutory-construction statutory-interpretation
Key Terms:
FifthAmendment CriminalProcedure Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2025-03-21
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the term 'uses' in 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) should be interpreted contextually with other actus reus verbs, and whether 'for the purpose of' requires a specific rather than incidental purpose

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) provides that “Any person who employs, uses, persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any minor to engage in . . . any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct . . . shall be punished as provided under [this section].” The questions presented are: 1. In accordance with the method of statutory interpretation set forth in Dubin v. United States , 599 U.S. 110 (2023), should the term “uses” be interpreted in the context of the statute and the other actus reus verbs listed in it. 2. Whether “for the purpose of” should be interpretated in accordance with the plain language of the statute to mean the purpose, rather than merely “a” purpose even if not the primary purpose.

Docket Entries

2025-03-24
Petition DENIED.
2025-02-26
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/21/2025.
2025-02-18
Waiver of United States of right to respond submitted.
2025-02-18
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2025-01-15
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 10, 2025)
2024-12-05
Application (24A550) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until January 15, 2025.
2024-12-03
Application (24A550) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 16, 2024 to January 15, 2025, submitted to The Chief Justice.

Attorneys

United States
Sarah M. HarrisActing Solicitor General, Respondent
Sarah M. HarrisActing Solicitor General, Respondent
Zachary Ellis Sanders
Barry J. PollackHarris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP , Petitioner
Barry J. PollackHarris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP , Petitioner