No. 25-5015

Justin Dale Little v. United States

Lower Court: Tenth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-07-02
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: None
Key Terms:
FourthAmendment CriminalProcedure JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2025-09-29
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Question not identified.

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

Law enforcement officers have long been tasked with learning “what is required of them under Fourth Amendment precedent ” and conforming “ their conduct to these rules. ” Davis v. United States, 564 U.S. 229, 241 (2011) . This principle undergirds the rule of law and determines when law enforcement may not invoke an exception to the exclusionary rule. But not in Oklahoma. In 2017, before McGirt v. Oklahoma, 140 S. Ct. 2452 (2020) , the Tenth Circuit held in a published, binding opinion that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation had not been disestablished and Oklahoma state authorities could not assert jurisdiction over the reservation for murder cases. Murphy v. Royal , 875 F.3d 896 (10th Cir. 2017) . The Circuit nevertheless excused Oklahoma law enforcement’s continued assertion of jurisdiction in a suspected murder on the reservation in 2018. The Circuit found that law enforcement acted in good -faith reliance on its historical assertion of j urisdiction because the Circuit had stayed the mandate in Murphy until 2020. The question s presented are: 1. Does staying a mandate affect the binding nature of an appellate court’s published opinion that has not been vacated or reversed? 2. Does longstanding law enforcement practice, override binding precedent, and thus receive protection from the good -faith reliance exception to suppression?

Docket Entries

2025-10-06
Petition DENIED.
2025-07-17
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025.
2025-07-10
Waiver of United States of America of right to respond submitted.
2025-07-10
Waiver of right of respondent United States of America to respond filed.
2025-06-30
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due August 1, 2025)
2025-06-12
Application (24A1245) for a stay, submitted to Justice Kagan.
2025-05-27
Application (24A1148) granted by Justice Gorsuch extending the time to file until July 1, 2025.
2025-05-22
Application (24A1148) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from June 1, 2025 to July 31, 2025, submitted to Justice Gorsuch.

Attorneys

Justin Little
Cristen ThayerFederal Public Defender, District of Nevada, Petitioner
Cristen ThayerFederal Public Defender, District of Nevada, Petitioner
United States of America
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
Moez Mansoor KabaHueston Hennigan LLP, Respondent