child-pornography

178 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-949 John Doe, et al. v. X Corp., fka Twitter, Inc. Ninth Circuit 2026-02-10 Pending child-pornography civil-immunity good-samaritan internet-platform section-230 sex-trafficking Whether Section 230's Good Samaritan immunity applies to the knowing possession and distribution of child pornography and knowingly benefiting from a …
25-6566 William Dahl v. United States Eighth Circuit 2026-01-13 Pending IFP child-pornography criminal-law factfinder-standard federal-statute judicial-precedent statutory-interpretation How, if at all, may courts direct factfinders to rely on the 'Dost factors' in deciding whether a depiction includes a 'lascivious exhibition of the a…
25A707 Edward C. Brown v. United States Seventh Circuit 2025-12-17 Application child-pornography forensic-evidence knowingly-possessed metadata probation-violation supervised-release Whether the discovery of 75 thumbnail child pornography images in an inaccessible cache folder on an unreported cell phone constitutes knowing possess…
25-6386 Gavin Michael Harold v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2025-12-16 Pending Response RequestedResponse WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-punishment jury-trial mandatory-minimum restitution sixth-amendment Does the Sixth Amendment require a jury to find the facts needed to justify a restitution order meeting or exceeding § 2259(b)(2)(B)'s $3,000 mandator…
25A631 John Doe, et al. v. Twitter, Inc., et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-12-01 Application child-pornography civil-liability content-moderation internet-platform section-230 sex-trafficking Whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides immunity to internet platforms for knowingly possessing child pornography and benefitin…
25-6223 Daniel Kroeker v. United States Tenth Circuit 2025-11-24 Pending Response RequestedResponse WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-statute dost-factors jury-instruction lascivious-exhibition sexual-offense Whether, in a non-production child-pornography prosecution, a trial court should define 'lascivious exhibition' by instructing the jury to consider th…
25A610 Keegan L. Lovell v. United States Armed Forces 2025-11-24 Application child-pornography court-martial due-process guilty-plea military-justice uniform-code-of-military-justice Whether a military trial judge's failure to fully explore a defendant's understanding of the elements of a guilty plea constitutes a due process viola…
25A592 William Dahl v. United States Eighth Circuit 2025-11-18 Application child-pornography circuit-split dost-factors lascivious-exhibition minor-genitals statutory-interpretation Whether the judicially-created 'Dost factors' used to determine the 'lascivious exhibition' of minors in child pornography cases are constitutionally …
25A536 Adrienne L. Clark v. United States Armed Forces 2025-11-07 Application appellate-review child-pornography court-martial military-justice sexual-abuse ucmj Whether a military appellate court's decision to partially set aside findings of guilty and reassess a sentence comports with due process and the Unif…
25-6041 Kaleb Layne Nix v. United States Fifth Circuit 2025-11-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-limits criminal-law federal-prosecution interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. § 2251 authorizes conviction based on interstate material movement for child pornography production when no direct causal link exist…
25-5860 Robert Matthew Bowman v. United States Fifth Circuit 2025-10-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-limits criminal-statute federal-jurisdiction interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B) authorizes conviction based on interstate movement of a phone containing child pornography without direct evidence l…
25-383 Mark Van Epern v. United States Fourth Circuit 2025-10-01 Denied Response Waived child-pornography criminal-law federal-statute minor-protection sexual-exploitation statutory-interpretation Whether a defendant 'uses' a minor to engage in 'sexually explicit conduct' by surreptitiously recording the minor nude during innocent activities, an…
25-5704 Jeanie Reese v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc., et al. California 2025-09-24 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP aggregate-effects child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-authority federal-prosecution interstate-commerce Does the 'Aggregate Effects' doctrine under Gonzales v. Raich expand federal prosecution powers beyond the original constitutional limits of the Comme…
25-5240 Jason Shortridge v. United States Fourth Circuit 2025-07-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography computer-evidence expert-witness-disclosure government-disclosure sixth-amendment trial-continuance Whether a district court abuses its discretion by continuing a case after the Government's late disclosure of an expert witness, and whether possessio…
25-5088 Lorenzo Elias Mendez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-07-11 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP child-pornography habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance legal-innocence statutory-interpretation video-voyeurism QP: Whether reasonable jurists could debate the application of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) to video voyeurism and the procedural and substantive challenges to…
24-7490 Clint Robert Schram v. United States Eighth Circuit 2025-06-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-evidence due-process minor-exploitation sentencing-standards uncharged-misconduct Whether the government must prove images of child pornography depict actual minors and whether the introduction of uncharged pornographic images undul…
24-7453 In Re Curtis Baldwin 2025-06-17 Denied IFP aggregate-effects child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-limits federal-prosecution interstate-commerce Does the 'Aggregate Effects' doctrine under Gonzales v Raich expand federal prosecution powers beyond the original constitutional limits of the Commer…
24-7203 Michael Inzitari v. Connecticut Connecticut 2025-05-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-split child-pornography constitutional-review dost-factors lascivious-exhibition sexual-conduct When the six Dost factors are read to a jury to determine 'lascivious exhibition of the genitals' under a child pornography statute, is a conviction c…
24-7150 Oscar Williams, Jr. v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2025-05-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-conviction extortion federal-statute u.s.c.-section-2251 u.s.c.-section-875 Whether the production of child pornography by the alleged victims supports a conviction under Title 18 U.S.C. Section 2251(a) and whether Oscar Willi…
24-7115 Elroy Wilkerson v. United States Fifth Circuit 2025-05-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-law minor-protection sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation visual-depiction Does a voyeur produce or possess visual depictions of a minor engaged in 'sexually explicit conduct' when the images recorded the minor engaged in onl…
24-6826 Timothy W. Wright v. United States Sixth Circuit 2025-03-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP active-interaction child-pornography criminal-law dubin-precedent statutory-construction statutory-interpretation Whether the term 'uses' in 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) requires an active interaction with a minor when interpreting the statute's actus reus verbs
24-6687 Jason Jayavarman v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-03-04 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP child-pornography criminal-procedure duplicitous-indictment ineffective-counsel plea-offer rule-8a Is an indictment duplicitous when it charges multiple offenses in a single count and does Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 8(a) prohibit such chargi…
24-6585 Patrick Jones v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-02-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-law first-amendment mens-rea statutory-construction supreme-court-precedent Whether the child pornography offense under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) requires the government to prove a reckless mens rea as to the minor's age under First…
24A694 Jonathon William-Durand Neuhard v. United States Sixth Circuit 2025-01-15 Presumed Complete certificate-of-appealability child-pornography habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance sentencing-mitigation sixth-circuit Whether the Sixth Circuit applied the correct standard for ineffective assistance of counsel claims in denying a certificate of appealability for a ha…
24-6287 Sean J. Trahan v. United States First Circuit 2025-01-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography federal-law mandatory-minimum predicate-offense sentencing-enhancement state-conviction Whether a district court may impose an enhanced mandatory minimum sentence under 18 U.S.C. 2252A(b)(2) based on a prior state conviction 'relating to'…
24-6185 Warren Siepman v. United States Seventh Circuit 2024-12-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-statute digital-evidence federal-law peer-to-peer-networks transportation-of-illicit-material Whether a conviction for transportation of child pornography requires proof of actual download or merely making material available through peer-to-pee…
24A518 Zackary Ellis Sanders v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-11-26 Presumed Complete child-pornography circuit-split criminal-procedure electronic-data forfeiture-law property-rights Whether electronic data files stored on forfeitable devices constitute distinct 'property' under 18 U.S.C. § 2253(a) that can be separately returned w…
24-6000 Rafael Antonio Bracero-Navas v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2024-11-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography circuit-split federal-criminal-law lascivious-exhibition minor-protection statutory-interpretation Does secretly photographing a nude minor in ordinary bathroom activities constitute 'sexually explicit conduct' under federal child pornography statut…
24-5883 Charles Victor Flint v. United States Tenth Circuit 2024-10-31 Denied IFP child-pornography circuit-split criminal-sentencing federal-offense recidivism-enhancement statutory-interpretation Whether a state sexual offense that criminalizes conduct more broadly than federal offenses triggers a mandatory minimum sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 22…
24A423 Sean J. Trahan v. United States First Circuit 2024-10-30 Presumed Complete categorical-approach child-pornography circuit-split mandatory-minimum sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation Whether a state child pornography statute that is broader than the federal statute can categorically qualify as an offense 'relating to' child pornogr…
24-5852 Alexander W. Kawleski v. United States Seventh Circuit 2024-10-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-authority criminal-procedure due-process interstate-commerce witness-credibility Did the lower courts err in not granting a new trial based on contradictory witness testimony and potential due process violations in a child pornogra…
24-5763 David Earl Boyd v. United States Fifth Circuit 2024-10-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography commerce-clause congressional-power federal-prosecution interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251 and 2252A exceed Congressional commerce authority in authorizing conviction based only upon proof that materials used to pro…
24-380 Matthew McCoy v. United States Eighth Circuit 2024-10-03 Denied Response Waived child-pornography criminal-intent federal-statute minor-protection sexual-exploitation video-recording Does secretly recording a nude minor in the bathroom engaged in innocent daily activities constitute 'sexually explicit conduct' under 18 U.S.C. § 225…
24-5626 Julio Reynaldo Rivera v. United States Fifth Circuit 2024-09-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-limits criminal-sanctions federal-prosecution interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. § 2251 authorizes conviction based on interstate materials movement in child pornography cases and whether Congress can impose crimi…
24-264 Jay A. Liestman v. United States Seventh Circuit 2024-09-09 Denied child-pornography circuit-split federal-law sentencing-enhancement state-law statutory-interpretation Whether a state offense involving child pornography can serve as a predicate for federal sentencing enhancement under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(1) when the …
24-5419 Jonathan Fitzpatrick Koen v. United States Fifth Circuit 2024-08-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography commerce-clause congressional-power federal-prosecution interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. § 2251 exceeds Congressional commerce authority in authorizing conviction based only upon proof that materials used to produce child…
24-170 Jake Delahney Taylor v. United States Fifth Circuit 2024-08-16 Denied Response Waived child-pornography circuit-split federal-criminal-law lascivious-exhibition statutory-interpretation visual-depiction Whether the terms 'visual depiction' and 'lascivious exhibition' in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 110 refer to the same or different things in the context of chil…
24-5109 Clinton Mark Lewis v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-07-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2252 child-pornography circuit-split circumstantial-evidence criminal-law evidence-standard federal-statute image-specific ninth-circuit statutory-interpretation tenth-circuit Is the charge of possession or accessing child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B) 'image specific'?
24-5058 Joseph Curtis Hubman v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-07-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553(a)(2) 18-usc-3553a child-pornography criminal-history sentencing-guidelines sentencing-purposes upward-variance Whether an upward variance sentence nearly two years higher than recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines is greater than necessary to comply with the…
24A1 Jake Delahney Taylor v. United States Fifth Circuit 2024-07-03 Presumed Complete child-pornography circuit-split first-amendment lascivious-exhibition sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation Whether the definition of 'sexually explicit conduct' under 18 U.S.C. § 2256(2)(A) requires proof of sexual desire or intent when determining if an im…
23A1167 Jay A. Liestman v. United States Seventh Circuit 2024-06-27 Presumed Complete child-pornography federal-criminal-law mandatory-minimum predicate-offense sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation Whether state child pornography laws can serve as predicate offenses triggering enhanced mandatory minimum penalties under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(1)
23A1154 Timothy Scott Hardin v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-06-25 Presumed Complete age-of-consent child-pornography circuit-split recidivist-provision sentencing-enhancement statutory-rape Whether a non-generic statutory rape offense that sets the age of consent at 18 can trigger a federal child pornography sentencing enhancement under 1…
23-7696 Rit Tran v. United States Fifth Circuit 2024-06-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-limits criminal-law due-process federal-jurisdiction interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified p…
23-7449 Jacob VanDyke v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2024-05-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-law Auer-v-Robbins Chevron chevron-deference child-pornography commentary deference guideline-commentary judicial-review sentencing-guidelines Whether the 1 to 75 ratio for videos found in the commentary to U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2 is entitled to deference under Chevron, Federal-Express-Corporation-v…
23-1194 Erik Hentzen v. United States Sixth Circuit 2024-05-06 Denied Response Waived appeal appellate-review child-pornography harmless-error ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel prejudice-prong sixth-amendment strickland-standard strickland-v-washington Can Strickland v. Washington's 'prejudice prong' be satisfied by a showing that constitutionally inadequate representation at the trial-court level ac…
23-7061 Cody Dillon Hogan v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2024-03-22 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 8th-amendment child-pornography civil-rights criminal-law due-process eighth-amendment mandatory-minimum restitution statutory-interpretation Proximate causation, due process, conflicting interpretation, statutory interpretation, substantive due process
23-6739 John Richard Brinson v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-02-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-amendment child-pornography criminal-history criminal-sentencing due-process life-without-parole rehabilitation sentencing-reasonableness substantive-due-process substantive-reasonableness Whether a life without parole sentence for a 24 year old with no prior criminal record for producing child pornography is substantively unreasonable?
23-6662 Gregory A. Rollins v. Illinois Illinois 2024-02-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-law digital-files due-process statutory-interpretation vagueness Whether the portion of the Illinois child pornography statute allowing for the termination of possession is unconstitutionally vague
23-803 Shannon Donoho v. United States Seventh Circuit 2024-01-25 Denied Relisted (4) child-pornography circuit-split due-process federal-criminal-statute lascivious-exhibition minor-protection secret-recording sexually-explicit-conduct visual-depiction Does a defendant produce a depiction of a minor engaging in 'lascivious exhibition,' and thus 'sexually explicit conduct' under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a), b…
23-6560 Cole A. Wolak v. United States Sixth Circuit 2024-01-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-conviction district-court-error double-jeopardy possession procedural-reasonableness receipt-and-distribution sentencing Whether the district court erred in convicting petitioner for both possession of child pornography and for receipt and distribution of child pornograp…
23-6481 Ashley Nichole Kolhoff v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-01-12 Denied IFP child-pornography constitutional-rights criminal-intent criminal-law due-process fair-trial intent lascivious-exhibition statutory-interpretation Did the courts below impermissibly expand the scope of the federal child pornography statutes in contravention of this Court's precedents and the plai…
23A601 Shannon Donoho v. United States Seventh Circuit 2024-01-02 Presumed Complete child-pornography federal-criminal-law photographic-evidence sentencing-guidelines sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation Whether the definition of 'sexually explicit conduct' in federal child pornography statutes turns on objective characteristics of the depicted images …
23-6297 Kevin Hewlett v. United States Fourth Circuit 2023-12-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2251 cellphone-evidence child-pornography commerce-clause criminal-conduct criminal-law criminal-procedure interstate-commerce jury-instruction mens-rea Whether the use of a cellphone in criminal conduct is a sufficient nexus to interstate commerce
23-625 Tel James Boam v. United States Ninth Circuit 2023-12-11 Denied Amici (1) child-pornography circuit-split criminal-statute due-process lascivious-exhibition minor-protection sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation visual-depiction Does a defendant produce or possess a depiction involving the use of a minor engaging in 'lascivious exhibition,' and thus 'sexually explicit conduct,…
23-6158 Derrick Hunt v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2023-12-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP 4th-amendment child-pornography criminal-procedure evidence fourth-amendment motion-to-suppress probable-cause search-and-seizure search-warrant Did the District Court abuse its discretion in denying Defendant's motion to suppress the search of his computer?
23-5960 Brandon Keith Wright v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-11-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-law constitutional-limits criminal-law criminal-sanctions due-process federal-prosecution interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified p…
23-5921 Vahe Sarkiss v. United States Ninth Circuit 2023-10-31 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 4th-amendment child-pornography civil-rights due-process fourth-amendment interstate-commerce reasonable-suspicion search-and-seizure supervised-release Whether Petitioner's Fourth Amendment rights were violated due to lack of reasonable suspicion for search
23-5859 Matthew Steven Hackney v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-10-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-interpretation criminal-law criminal-statute due-process federal-jurisdiction interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. § 2251 and § 2252(a)(5)(B) authorize convictions upon proof that materials used to produce or possess child pornography once crossed…
23-5581 Matthew R. Osuba v. United States Second Circuit 2023-09-14 Denied IFP child-pornography criminal-law federal-statute lower-court-split minor minor-protection production sexual-exploitation sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation visual-depiction Whether a person 'uses' a minor 'to engage in' sexually explicit conduct, and thereby produces child pornography, when he creates a visual image of hi…
23-219 Sherman Moore v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-09-08 Denied child-pornography circuit-split criminal-law due-process federal-statute sentencing sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation Whether a state offense relates to the 'sexual exploitation of children' under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(e)
23-5519 Octavio Cortez Fierros v. United States Eighth Circuit 2023-09-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-law child-pornography civil-procedure constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process first-amendment judicial-review legal-precedent sexual-exploitation standing statutory-interpretation Whether the petitioner's convictions for possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of children violate the First Amendment and the Due P…
23A145 Mauricio Gonzalez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2023-08-17 Presumed Complete child-pornography due-process inadmissible-evidence indictment-deficiency notice-requirement sentencing-enhancement Whether an indictment that fails to allege all material elements of the charges violates the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the Sixth Amendm…
23-5265 Mark Alan Miller v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-08-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-limits criminal-law criminal-sanctions due-process federal-jurisdiction interstate-commerce standing statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified p…
23-5191 Michael McShan v. United States Sixth Circuit 2023-07-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2251 age-of-consent child-pornography consent-standard federal-law self-produced-images sexual-relationship state-law Whether the age of consent under state law is relevant to deciding whether a person produced child pornography under federal law by requesting self-pr…
23-5087 Michael R. v. Connecticut Connecticut 2023-07-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography civil-rights constitutional-interpretation dost-factors due-process first-amendment free-speech miller-standard obscenity obscenity-test Should the Dost factors be modified to prevent unconstitutional restrictions on First Amendment freedom of expression?
22-7851 George Poulo v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2023-06-23 Denied IFP child-pornography civil-rights criminal-law criminal-statute due-process free-speech minor-exploitation sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation visual-depiction Whether a person 'uses' a minor 'to engage in' sexually explicit conduct, and thereby produces child pornography, when he creates a visual image of hi…
22-7855 Edgar Dawson v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2023-06-23 Denied IFP child-pornography civil-rights criminal-law criminal-statute due-process federal-criminal-law free-speech minor-exploitation sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation visual-depiction Whether a person 'uses' a minor 'to engage in' sexually explicit conduct, and thereby produces child pornography, when he creates a visual image of hi…
22-7843 George John Maslovar v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-06-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography civil-procedure criminal-history paroline-v-united-states proximate-cause restitution statutory-interpretation victim-impact Whether a defendant's criminal history, the nature of images typically trafficked of a child pornography victim, or the amount of restitution collecte…
22-7818 Marshall M. Cohen v. United States Fourth Circuit 2023-06-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2256 child-pornography circuit-split creator's-intent federal-criminal-law four-corners-of-image intent-context lascivious-exhibition statutory-interpretation Whether lasciviousness under 18 U.S.C. § 2256(2)(A)(v) may be determined by examining the context or creator's intent, or must be determined solely fr…
22-7751 David Paul Bickford v. Maryland Maryland 2023-06-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP charging-document child-photography child-pornography constitutional-law first-amendment new-york-v-ferber obscenity-standard parental-rights sexual-exploitation statutory-interpretation If the First Amendment case of New York v Ferber, 458 US 747 (1982), describes the essential elements required for 'all legislation in [the] sensitive…
22-7678 Gary E. Peel v. United States Seventh Circuit 2023-06-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP actual-innocence child-pornography due-process ex-post-facto first-amendment ineffective-assistance-of-counsel takings-clause Whether the government can criminalize the possession of non-obscene photographic materials depicting only an adult
22-7684 Christopher Darnell Douglas v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-06-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-limits criminal-law criminal-sanctions due-process federal-jurisdiction interstate-commerce standing statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified p…
22-7332 In Re Michael Paul Martin 2023-04-20 Denied IFP child-pornography commerce-clause congressional-findings constitutional-authority due-process economic-impact fair-notice federal-criminal-offense gonzales-v-raich interstate-commerce Whether there is proper Fair Notice under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a)
22-985 Ferrell Walker v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2023-04-11 Denied Response Waived child-pornography double-jeopardy fifth-amendment revocation sentencing supervised-release Whether the subsequent imposition of a sentence to a term of imprisonment of 168 months on a charge of possession of child pornography, to run consecu…
22-7089 In Re William Hopmeier 2023-03-24 Denied IFP aggregate-effects-doctrine child-pornography congressional-findings constitutional-authority due-process economic-impact fair-notice gonzales-v-raich interstate-commerce Whether there is proper Fair Notice under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) for intrastate production of child pornography
22-7061 Lorenzo Elias Mendez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2023-03-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography circuit-split criminal-law due-process federal-statute first-amendment minor-exploitation sentencing-guidelines sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation Whether the statutory term 'lascivious exhibition' refers to the defendant's act of exhibiting a minor's genitals on film, or to a particular type of …
22-6847 Philip M. Close v. United States Second Circuit 2023-02-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-USC-2251 18-USC-2252A child-pornography circuit-split criminal-statute federal-law genital-exposure sentencing sexual-conduct sexually-explicit-conduct Whether brief glimpses of children's genital areas in videos constitute 'sexually-explicit-conduct' under 18-USC-2251-and-2252A
22-6813 Joshua Glowacki v. United States Sixth Circuit 2023-02-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-procedure due-process jury-determination jury-trial probable-cause restitution restitution-order search-warrant sentencing victim-rights Does the defendant in a criminal case have the right to have a jury determine facts to support a restitution order?
22-6762 Ryan Galal Van Dyck v. Arizona Arizona 2023-02-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-amendment child-pornography cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment life-sentence mandatory-sentencing proportionality sentencing Does a mandatory de facto life sentence for mere possession of child pornography images, when the person has never directly abused or attempted to abu…
22-695 Jane Does No. 1–6, et al. v. Reddit, Inc. Ninth Circuit 2023-01-25 Denied Relisted (2) child-pornography civil-action civil-liability communications-decency-act internet-immunity sex-trafficking statutory-interpretation third-party-liability Whether the exception to CDA immunity contained in 47 U.S.C. § 230(e)(5)(A) is limited solely to Section 1595 claims where the defendant itself has co…
22-6006 Justin Richard Testani v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-11-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-history cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment mental-capacity sentencing sentencing-disparity Whether a 720-month sentence violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual sentences
22-5991 Glenn Randall Ferguson v. United States Tenth Circuit 2022-11-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-4241 child-pornography competency criminal-competency criminal-procedure due-process evidence federal-courts mental-health rule-403 When a district court has found a criminal defendant to be incompetent, is it sufficient to reverse the finding based solely on professional opinions …
22-233 Paul Chretien v. United States Third Circuit 2022-09-13 Denied Response Waived child-pornography fourth-amendment google-cloud probable-cause search-warrant stale-evidence staleness Whether the Fourth Amendment allows a finding of probable cause for a search warrant for child pornography in a private home based solely, and without…
22-5441 Felipe Mata-Benavidez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-08-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-law due-process federal-jurisdiction interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified p…
21-7880 Robert Andrew Riley v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-05-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-law criminal-law due-process federal-jurisdiction Whether child pornography is a federal crime enumerated by the Constitution
21-7576 Edward Wright v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-04-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-scrutiny liberty-interests non-delegation-doctrine overbreadth plea-agreement supervised-release third-party-notification vagueness Whether the standard federal supervision condition requiring third-party risk notification is unconstitutional for its vagueness, overbreadth, and vio…
21-7345 David Wayne Aring v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-03-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography circuit-split due-process eighth-amendment first-time-offender judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-guidelines supervised-release Whether lifetime supervised release is appropriate for a first-time, non-violent offender convicted of receiving and watching child pornography
21-7334 Gregory Todd Numann v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-03-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP 28-usc-2255 certificate-of-appealability child-pornography criminal-procedure evidentiary-hearing ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel password-protected-device plea-bargaining Whether the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit erred in denying Mr. Numann's motion for certificate of appealability
21-7259 Keith Prescott Gace v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-03-02 Denied IFP child-pornography circuit-split d-c-circuit dost-factors federal-criminal-law first-amendment judicial-precedent lascivious-exhibition seventh-circuit statutory-interpretation Should a jury or court consider the Dost factors when determining whether a visual depiction of a minor constitutes a 'lascivious exhibition' for purp…
21-7156 Floyd Allen Hawkins v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-02-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography commerce-clause criminal-law due-process interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified p…
21-7090 Larry O'Neal v. United States First Circuit 2022-02-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-rights custodial-interrogation customs-and-border-patrol federal-agents in-custody-interrogation law-enforcement-procedure miranda-rights miranda-warning ruse Did the Appellate Court err in finding Larry O'Neal was not in custody for Miranda purposes?
21-6934 Donnie Barnes, Sr. v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-01-21 Denied IFP child-pornography circuit-split dost-factors federal-criminal-law lascivious-exhibition model-jury-instructions statutory-interpretation Whether the definition of 'lascivious exhibition' in the federal child pornography statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2256, is limited by the term it is defining an…
21-6790 Timothy Ryan v. United States Seventh Circuit 2022-01-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-jurisdiction child-pornography civil-rights constitutional-violations discretionary-review due-process federal-procedure habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel sentencing Whether the district court erred in denying Ryan's § 2255 habeas corpus petition without holding an evidentiary hearing
21-6503 Pradeep Gupte v. University of Connecticut Second Circuit 2021-12-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review child-pornography civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-challenge criminal-procedure criminal-statute due-process federal-criminal-law federal-jurisdiction standing statutory-interpretation Whether the petitioner's constitutional rights were violated
21-6006 Cory Wayne Kilgore v. United States Tenth Circuit 2021-10-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP 4th-amendment address-connection appellate-review child-pornography criminal-procedure fourth-amendment prior-conviction probable-cause search-warrant Did the Tenth Circuit err in holding that the search warrant affidavit provided adequate basis for probable cause?
21-5748 Kyle Evan Peterson v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-09-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography circuit-split criminal-procedure exclusionary-rule knowledge-element plea-bargaining plea-colloquy post-hoc-warrant united-states-v-x-citement-video Whether the district judge must explain the knowledge element in a child pornography plea colloquy
21-5673 Timothy Brandon Fredrickson v. United States Seventh Circuit 2021-09-15 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP child-pornography consensual-transmission constitutional-law constitutional-overbreadth criminal-law due-process first-amendment free-speech image-production statutory-interpretation Whether Section 18 USC 2251 (a) is overbroad
21-5631 Elton Vallare v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-09-09 Dismissed IFP child-pornography circuit-split criminal-law federal-statute interstate-commerce statutory-interpretation unit-of-prosecution What is the unit of prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B)?
21-5163 Gregory Scott Stephen v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-07-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-procedure eighth-circuit fourth-amendment government-agent private-citizen search-and-seizure search-warrant sentencing-guidelines standing Was the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit's conclusion that a private citizen can never be established as a government agent absen…
20-8109 Walter Crayton v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2021-05-24 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 4th-amendment assigned-counsel child-pornography civil-rights criminal-appeals criminal-procedure due-process free-speech legal-representation post-conviction search-and-seizure trial-court Whether the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court erred in affirming the defendant's conviction for possession of child pornography, second offense, de…
20-1593 Devon E. Sanders v. United States Third Circuit 2021-05-18 Denied Response Waived child-pornography criminal-law disaggregation double-jeopardy federal-sentencing paroline-v-united-states restitution sentencing statutory-interpretation Whether the Double Jeopardy Clause takes into account only the essential facts for establishing the elements of two offenses
20-8039 Matthew J. O'Neal v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-05-17 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP child-pornography criminal-law eighth-amendment mandatory-minimum sentencing sentencing-enhancement sexual-abuse statutory-interpretation Whether the Sixth Circuit erred by expanding the scope of the 'relating to' language in 18 U.S.C. §2252A(b)(2) to include conduct under a state statut…
20-7593 Fernando Clarke v. United States Second Circuit 2021-03-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2252 child-pornography criminal-law file-sharing government-action peer-to-peer peer-to-peer-network statutory-interpretation transportation-statute Whether the government's own action in uploading a file containing child pornography from the defendant's folder on a peer-to-peer network to the gove…
20-7460 Carlos Rodriguez Fernandez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-03-16 Denied IFP child-pornography context-test due-process first-amendment four-corners-test jury-instruction lascivious-exhibition Whether courts must apply a 'limited context' test rather than an expansive 'context' test or a 'four corners' test in determining whether an image of…
20-1193 Christopher G. Lee v. United States Third Circuit 2021-03-01 Denied Response Waived 18-usc-chapter-110 child-pornography constitutional-rights criminal-statute due-process first-amendment image-cropping ineffective-assistance-of-counsel lascivious-exhibition minor-image sexually-explicit-conduct Can innocent, non-sexual conduct of a minor be retroactively converted into 'sexually explicit conduct'?
20-6948 Beau Brandon Croghan v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-01-26 Denied IFP 8th-circuit child-pornography criminal-intent criminal-law eighth-circuit evidence evidence-retention knowingly-receives mens-rea statutory-interpretation website-viewing Whether the Eighth Circuit erred by holding that a defendant knowingly receives child pornography by viewing it on a website, even without any evidenc…
20-6813 Manuel Diaz v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-01-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP 4th-amendment 5th-amendment child-pornography circuit-split fourth-amendment probable-cause search-warrant warrantless-arrest Whether an officer has probable cause to obtain a search warrant or to make a warrantless arrest for the offense of possession of child pornography ba…
20-6734 John S. Mobasseri v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-12-31 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2259 child-pornography criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process restitution retroactive-application statutory-amendment Whether it violates due process to retroactively apply the 2018 amendments to 18 U.S.C. § 2259 to offense conduct occurring prior to the effective dat…
20-6671 Sarah Melisa Cox, aka Sarah Cox, aka Sarah Cunningham v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-12-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP print or publish the distribution of child pornog child-pornography circuit-split communication communication-standard criminal-law federal-criminal-law notice notice-requirement statutory-interpretation Whether a communication between just two individuals is sufficient contact to satisfy the requirement of giving notice to make, print or publish the d…
20-6496 Michael Alford v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-12-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-procedure due-process evidentiary-hearing expert-services expert-witness forensic-evidence ineffective-assistance-of-counsel legal-assistance motion-of-innocence pro-se-litigant right-to-counsel Whether the court erred in refusing to order legal assistance and forensic software expert assistance to obtain and submit factual evidence
20-6359 Andrew Rey Ybaben v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-11-17 Denied IFP appellate-jurisdiction child-pornography discretionary-conditions due-process federal-criminal-law interstate-commerce sentencing statutory-interpretation supervised-release Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified p…
20-526 Jason M. Blackburn v. United States Armed Forces 2020-10-20 Denied Response Waived 4th-amendment child-pornography criminal-procedure digital-evidence fourth-amendment good-faith-exception military-justice probable-cause search-and-seizure search-warrant Whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding the good faith exception applied to the search and seizure of Petitioner's computer?
20-6057 David Lee Emmert, Jr. v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-10-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-defendants criminal-enhancement due-process equal-protection immigration liberty-interest sentencing-disparity sexual-abuse-minor statutory-interpretation Whether equal protection of the liberty interest is offended when two classes of criminal defendants (Immigration and Child Pornography) are given dis…
20-5951 Joshua Scott Richards v. United States Tenth Circuit 2020-10-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing federal-sentencing sentencing sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness u.s.-sentencing-commission u.s.s.g.-§-2g2.2 Whether a sentence imposed pursuant to the United States Sentencing Guidelines covering the crimes of accessing or possessing child pornography, U.S.S…
20-5833 Scott Francis Fortier v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-09-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2251 child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-vagueness mens-rea sexual-conduct sexually-explicit-conduct specific-intent vagueness-doctrine Does creating a visual depiction of sexual conduct of a minor need to be the dominant or specific purpose; one of the dominant or specific purposes; o…
20-390 Brandan A. Mack v. Florida Florida 2020-09-25 Denied Response Waived child-pornography civil-rights criminal-offense criminal-procedure due-process felony-penalty juvenile-offender sex-offender-registration Whether a state may subject a juvenile offender to long-term sex offender registration requirements following conviction for possession of child porno…
20-5772 Michael Portanova v. United States Third Circuit 2020-09-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP categorical-approach child-pornography circuit-split criminal-law federal-sentencing prior-conviction sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation Whether the 'categorical approach' may be disregarded or 'loosened' in child-pornography cases
20-5739 David Rothenberg v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-09-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography circuit-split criminal-sentencing paroline-v-united-states physical-abuse restitution restitution-calculation statutory-interpretation victim-losses When calculating restitution for a possessor of child pornography, must the victim's losses caused by the initial physical abuse be disaggregated from…
20-5595 Joshua Glen Box v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-09-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-circuit categorical-approach child-pornography criminal-law eighth-circuit federal-criminal-law predicate-offense predicate-offenses sentencing statutory-interpretation Whether the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit erred when it failed to properly apply the categorical approach to determine whether Mr. Box's pri…
20-5560 Briand Daniel Fechner v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-09-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-procedure due-process eighth-circuit evidence evidentiary-rules propensity-evidence prosecutorial-misconduct search-and-seizure sixth-circuit Whether the prosecution may introduce child pornography videos at trial that were not found on the defendant's devices, but found in an outside invest…
20-133 Joseph Michael Diaz v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-08-07 Denied Response Waived child-pornography criminal-appeal eleventh-circuit evidentiary-hearing ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel notice-of-appeal relevant-conduct sentencing-guidelines sexual-contact Whether the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals erred in holding that counsel was not ineffective assistance
20-5220 Gerald Lee Groomes v. Arkansas Arkansas 2020-07-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-nudity child-pornography constitutional-rights criminal-statute first-amendment lewd-exhibition overbreadth protected-expression protected-speech vagueness Does a state's unreasonable application of a criminal statute prohibiting the possession of images depicting a 'lewd exhibition' of child nudity in a …
19-8645 Joe Cephus Ross v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-06-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography due-process mandatory-minimum prosecutorial-discretion sentencing separation-of-powers statutory-interpretation void-for-vagueness Does 18 U.S.C. § 2252A violate the Due Process Clause and the void-for-vagueness doctrine?
19-8605 Courtland Barnes v. United States Fourth Circuit 2020-06-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-sentencing district-court federal-appeals federal-sentencing-guidelines fourth-circuit mitigating-evidence sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness Whether the district court's reliance on the child pornography guideline and the mitigating evidence Petitioner offered to the court require the vacat…
19-8559 Christopher Scott Jepsen v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-05-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeal appellate-review child-pornography criminal-law due-process federal-conviction prior-judgment sentencing sentencing-enhancement void-judgment Whether the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit erred by concluding that Mr. Jepsen was subject to an enhanced sentence for his fede…
19-1260 Andrew Demma v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-04-30 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) 18-usc-3553a appeals-court child-pornography circuit-split discretion gall-v-united-states judicial-discretion kimbrough-v-united-states policy-disagreement sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness Whether the discretion recognized under Kimbrough v. United States for a district court to vary based on a policy disagreement applies to the child po…
19-7918 Patrick Harris v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-03-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553a child-pornography criminal-sentencing district-court enhancement-factors excessive-sentence sentencing-discretion sentencing-enhancements sentencing-guidelines statutory-considerations Did the district court err in applying sentencing enhancements under U.S.S.G. §2G2.2(b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4), (b)(6) and (b)(7)(D) to Mr. Harris' case?
19-7896 Nicholas Hughes v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-03-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography circuit-split criminal-law due-process federal-statute mens-rea sexual-abuse sexual-exploitation statutory-interpretation Whether the Eleventh Circuit shall be permitted to remain an outlying jurisdiction insofar as it interprets the phrase 'for the purpose of' to require…
19-7865 Clifford Laverne Mecham, Jr. v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-03-04 Denied IFP 2nd-circuit 8th-circuit child-pornography circuit-split constitutional-law eighth-circuit first-amendment free-speech morphed-images second-circuit sexually-explicit-conduct Whether the First Amendment protects morphed child pornography created without any child's involvement in sexually explicit conduct
19-1027 David Caswell v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-02-18 Denied Response Waived child-pornography computer-search federal-investigation fourth-amendment good-faith good-faith-exception jurisdiction magistrate-jurisdiction network-investigative-technique search-warrant Did the FBI act in good-faith when it indicated to a magistrate judge that property to be searched pursuant to a search warrant application was locate…
19-7622 Samuel Elliott v. United States Tenth Circuit 2020-02-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-amendment appellate-review child-pornography criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process federal-guidelines sentencing sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness substantive-unreasonableness Whether a sentence imposed pursuant to the United States Sentencing Guidelines covering child pornography offenses, U.S.S.G. §§ 2G2.1 and 2G2.2, is su…
19-7589 Michael M. Monzel v. United States District of Columbia 2020-02-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography circuit-split criminal-restitution paroline-factors proximate-cause restitution-methodology sentencing statutory-interpretation victim-compensation What, if any, causal relationship or nexus between the defendant's conduct and the victim's harm or damages must the government or the victim establis…
19-7260 Darin Kaufmann v. United States Seventh Circuit 2020-01-13 Denied IFP 18-usc-2252 categorical-approach child-pornography federal-criminal-law first-amendment predicate-offense prior-conviction sentencing-enhancement state-law statutory-interpretation Whether the categorical approach applies to determining if a state conviction triggers a sentencing enhancement under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)
19-860 Nikolai Bosyk v. United States Fourth Circuit 2020-01-09 Denied Response Waived child-pornography circuit-split criminal-procedure fourth-amendment ip-address probable-cause search-and-seizure search-warrant Whether the single click of a URL link to child pornography by someone using an individual's IP address can provide probable cause to support a search…
19-7075 Matthew Rouse v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-12-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP age-of-consent child-pornography criminal-conduct first-amendment privacy sexual-conduct Whether the child pornography exception to the First Amendment applies to the private exchange of images depicting lawful, sexual conduct between indi…
19-6940 Kevin James Petroske v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-12-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2251 8th-circuit child-pornography circuit-split criminal-intent due-process minor-protection production-of-child-pornography sexual-conduct sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation video-voyeurism Whether mere video voyeurism can constitute intending a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction u…
19-6723 T. B. v. Colorado Colorado 2019-11-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography due-process first-amendment free-speech sexting sexual-exploitation teen-sexting teenager-rights Does Colorado's interpretation of what constitutes child pornography violate a teenager's First Amendment right to protected speech and conflict with …
19-6676 Christopher G. Waguespack v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-11-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography computer-evidence computer-forensics confrontation-clause criminal-procedure cross-examination evidence law-enforcement sixth-amendment software-reliability Whether failing to call the law enforcement agent responsible for generating a computer report in the Government's case-in chief implicates the Sixth …
19-6538 Levi Jermaine Griffin v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2019-11-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof child-pornography criminal-indictment criminal-knowledge criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process evidence jury-instructions mens-rea possession-of-child-pornography reasonable-doubt statutory-elements Whether the evidence was insufficient to satisfy the government's burden to prove the element of knowledge as to the possession of child pornography c…
19-6187 Jon Kaiser v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-10-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP affiant-misconduct affidavit child-pornography civil-rights due-process fourth-amendment judicial-review lascivious-exhibition magistrate-judge probable-cause search-and-seizure search-warrant Whether an intentional or reckless omission of purported child pornography images from a search warrant application undermines a finding of probable c…
19-428 Ryan Courtade v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-10-01 Denied 18-usc-2252 18-usc-2256 appellate-review child-pornography child-pornography-statute circuit-split due-process lascivious-exhibition standard-of-review statutory-interpretation subjective-intent When reviewing a district court's conclusion that an image depicts a 'lascivious exhibition' under 18 U.S.C. 2256(2)(A), must the appellate court revi…
19-6100 Melvyn Perry Sprowson, Jr. v. Nevada Nevada 2019-10-01 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP ashcroft-v-free-speech-coalition child-pornography constitutional-limits facial-challenge first-amendment free-speech new-york-v-ferber obscenity obscenity-standards overbreadth sexual-abuse state-regulation Whether a state regulation of child pornography that fails to satisfy all four requirements set forth in Ferber and that criminalizes conduct that is …
19-6027 Jordan Combs v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-09-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP 5th-amendment child-pornography constitutional-law constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment possession sentencing Whether Jordan Combs' due process rights under the Fifth Amendment were violated when the district court sentenced him to 120 months on possession of …
19-5771 Eric Allen Haensgen v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-08-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2252a age-of-consent child-pornography constitutional-law criminal-law criminal-statute due-process first-amendment free-speech statutory-interpretation unconstitutional Whether amendments to the child pornography law set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A) have rendered the current version of the statute unconstitutio…
19-5730 Lawrence Michael Lynde v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-08-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography civil-rights constitutional-law criminal-history criminal-procedure due-process federal-courts federal-sentencing sentencing-discretion sentencing-factors sentencing-guidelines sex-offender-treatment sixth-circuit-appeal standing statutory-interpretation victim-restitution Whether the Sixth Circuit erred in holding that the petitioner lacks standing to challenge the constitutionality of the statute at issue
19-5701 Daniel Brian Masson v. Florida Florida 2019-08-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP 14th-amendment 5th-amendment appellate-review child-abuse child-pornography child-sexual-performance constitutional-rights due-process falsified-transcripts motion-to-suppress search-warrant Whether the petitioner's conviction for violating Florida Statute 827.071 (5) (a) is illegal due to lack of evidence, falsified transcripts, and viola…
19-5384 David Rothenberg v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2019-07-30 Denied IFP causal-process child-pornography circuit-split criminal-restitution disaggregation paroline-v-united-states victim-losses When calculating restitution for a mere possessor of child pornography, must the victim's losses caused by the initial abuse be disaggregated from the…
19-5248 Garry Randall West v. Jason Bryant, Warden Tenth Circuit 2019-07-22 Denied Relisted (2)IFP child-pornography double-jeopardy due-process fourth-amendment free-speech miranda-rights miranda-warnings right-to-privacy search-and-seizure suppression-of-evidence Question not identified
18-9411 Steven Douglas Rockett v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-05-24 Denied IFP beyond the objective meaning of those words misconstrued the plain language of the statute an child-pornography constitutional-overbreadth constitutional-vagueness definitional-overbreadth definitional-vagueness dost-factors due-process judicial-construction lascivious-exhibition ninth-circuit-precedent overbreadth statutory-construction statutory-interpretation vagueness Whether the judicial construction of 'lascivious exhibition' of the genitals or pubic area of a minor in 18 U.S.C. § 2256(2)(A)(v) to include consider…
18-9379 Paul A. Light v. United States Second Circuit 2019-05-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-sentencing ineffective-assistance-of-counsel ineffective-counsel judicial-bias non-contact-offenders reasonableness recusal second-circuit sentencing-commission sentencing-guidelines Whether a sentence imposed pursuant to the child pornography Sentencing Guidelines can be deemed reasonable when the Sentencing Commission has deemed …
18-9305 Joshua Chapman-Sexton v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-05-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography exclusionary-rule fourth-amendment fourth-amendment-search-and-seizure inevitable-discovery probable-cause search-warrant warrantless-search Whether the inevitable discovery exception to the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule applies
18-8869 Jesse Davenport, aka Draco John Flama v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-04-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography confrontation-clause conspiracy criminal-procedure due-process jury-trial plain-error shackling sufficiency-of-evidence Is shackling a defendant during his or her jury trial for no asserted or actual reason proper, and thus not even an 'error' under the plain error test…
18-1254 Jeremiah L. King v. United States Armed Forces 2019-03-28 Denied Response Waived child-pornography criminal-conviction criminal-procedure due-process evidentiary-facts fifth-amendment permissive-inference search-terms sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the Court of Appeals relied upon permissive inferences that violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment in finding Petitioner's con…
18-1248 Neil C. Kienast and Braman B. Broy v. United States Seventh Circuit 2019-03-26 Denied Response Waived child-pornography circuit-split due-process exclusionary-rule fourth-amendment good-faith-exception law-enforcement privacy-interest probable-cause search-and-seizure suppression-doctrine suppression-of-evidence warrant warrant-validity Whether the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies to a warrant that should have never been issued, involving the government's reproduc…
18-8470 Tommy Lee Jones v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-03-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-procedure due-process evidence evidence-admission fair-trial judicial-conduct sentencing Has the District Court denied Mr. Jones a fair trial by allowing unsustained and unproven testimony into evidence
18-1202 Pedro Montalvo, Jr. v. Ohio Ohio 2019-03-15 Denied 6th-amendment child-pornography computer-age constitutional-rights criminal-procedure doyle-violation due-process massiah-doctrine obscenity right-to-defense scienter sixth-amendment strict-liability Whether Ohio's strict liability for inadvertent child pornography dissemination violates due process, whether defendant's right to mount a defense was…
18-8364 James D. Sullivan v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-03-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-procedure evidence-rule-414 evidentiary-hearing federal-rules-of-evidence grand-jury plea-agreement plea-withdrawal prosecutorial-discretion rule-104 rule-414 Whether the trial court must determine by a preponderance of evidence that the defendant engaged in child molestation conduct
18-8366 Anthony Eudean Woollis v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-03-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-limits criminal-sanctions due-process federal-criminal-law interstate-commerce plain-error-review statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-evidence sullivan-v-louisiana Whether 18 U.S.C. § 2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspecified …
18-8224 Antonio Dickerson, aka Girbaud v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-03-01 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP child-pornography constitutional-challenge fifth-amendment first-amendment mandatory-minimum mens-rea strict-liability Whether the child pornography offense set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) should be interpreted as including at least a recklessly mens rea element regar…
18-8038 James Patrick Burke v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-02-20 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP child-pornography criminal-procedure due-process exclusionary-rule fourth-amendment jurisdiction network-investigative-technique rule-41 rule-41(b) Should evidence be suppressed under the 'exclusionary rule' when obtained from Network Investigative Tecnique (NIT) warrants that violated Rule 41(b) …
18-7896 Ricardo Montanez-Quinones v. United States First Circuit 2019-02-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography distribution evidence knowingly-distributed knowledge plea-agreement prosecutorial-discretion sentencing-enhancement sentencing-guidelines What constitutes sufficient evidence of knowledge to support two-level enhancement for 'knowingly engaging in distribution' of child-pornography under…
18-7196 Edward Allen McElroy v. United States Ninth Circuit 2018-12-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-procedure due-process faretta-hearing faretta-v-california pro-se-representation self-representation sentencing supervised-release waiver-of-counsel Where a defendant is charged in federal court with possession and production of child pornography, the maximum punishment for which carries a lifetime…
18-7084 Anthony Steven Young v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-12-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion child-pornography close-scrutiny criminal-sentencing district-court-discretion internet-access relevant-conduct sentencing sentencing-guidelines standard-of-review ussg-2g2.2 What standard of review applies to the district court's decision to use the guideline for receiving or distributing child pornography to sentence a ch…
18-7007 Ronald T. Spoor v. United States Second Circuit 2018-12-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2256 child-pornography civil-rights due-process equal-protection lascivious-exhibition racial-discrimination rule-414 school-desegregation sexual-proclivities standing uncharged-crimes Must a video be considered in its totality to determine if it is a 'lascivious exhibition' under 18 U.S.C. § 2256(2)(A)(v)?
18-7005 Denis Aviles Salguero v. United States Ninth Circuit 2018-12-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review child-pornography constitutional-law criminal-law criminal-procedure double-jeopardy fifth-amendment sentencing Whether Petitioner's convictions for receipt and possession of child pornography violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment
18-6900 Jacob Scott Watters v. United States Eighth Circuit 2018-12-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-limits criminal-law predicate-offense relevant-conduct sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation unconstitutional-law visual-depictions Is 18 U.S.C. §2251(a) unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause?
18-6939 Jonathan S. Nelson v. Joe Norwood, Secretary, Kansas Department of Corrections, et al. Tenth Circuit 2018-12-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography conviction-reversal de-novo-review due-process first-amendment obscenity scienter Whether the right to a de novo review demands the reversal of conviction once the images disappear from the record post-conviction if the verbiage in …
18-6758 Michael Bordman v. United States Eighth Circuit 2018-11-20 Denied IFP child-pornography constitutional-vagueness continued-dissemination due-process harm-disaggregation initial-abuse restitution sentencing supervised-release Whether the restitution award in child pornography sentencings must disaggregate the harm caused by the initial abuse from the harm caused by the poss…
18-6734 Henry Franklin Reddick v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-11-19 Denied IFP 4th-amendment child-pornography civil-rights digital-privacy digital-search fourth-amendment hash-value private-search private-search-doctrine search-and-seizure warrant-requirement Does a police officer violate the Fourth Amendment by opening a digital file and viewing an image in it without a warrant to confirm a private company…
18-522 Michael Ishee v. Mississippi Mississippi 2018-10-19 Denied Response Waived child-pornography civil-rights due-process ex-post-facto first-amendment free-speech freedom-of-speech mens-rea scienter separation-of-powers void-ab-initio Whether a statute proscribing the mere possession of child pornography is facially unconstitutional if it contains no element of scienter
18-6215 Leonard Nathaniel Peragine, Jr. v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-10-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion child-enticement child-pornography congressional-intent criminal-sentencing empirical-evidence guideline-calculation sentencing sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Whether the district court's utilization of the child pornography guideline in Section 2G2.2 to determine the sentence for a defendant whose primary o…
18-6150 Noel Aquino-Florenciani v. United States First Circuit 2018-10-01 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP abuse-of-discretion child-pornography criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process internet-access internet-access-ban sentencing sentencing-guidelines supervised-release Whether the court's imposition of a total ban of internet access as a condition of supervised release is an overly broad and restrictive and without a…
18-6049 Robert Wallace Smith v. United States Ninth Circuit 2018-09-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-sentencing due-process first-offender internet-crime sentencing-guidelines statutory-maximum substantive-reasonableness Whether the district court's statutory maximum, 240-month sentence is substantively unreasonable for a first offender convicted of one count of receiv…
18-6006 Gerson Gonzalez Tovar v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-09-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography constitutional-limits criminal-law criminal-sanctions criminal-statute due-process interstate-commerce plain-error plain-error-review statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-evidence sullivan-v-louisiana Whether 18 U.S.C. §2251 authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child-pornography crossed state-lines at an unspecified-prior-…
18-5893 Dan Wayne Streetman v. United States Ninth Circuit 2018-09-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP booker-precedent booker-v-united-states child-pornography gall-v-united-states judicial-discretion kimbrough-v-united-states policy-disagreement sentencing-commission sentencing-discretion sentencing-guidelines sentencing-uniformity separation-of-powers Whether a district court can refuse to apply a sentencing guideline on policy grounds where the guideline is not based on the Sentencing Commission's …
18-5304 Raymond Sanchez Lopez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-07-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography commerce-clause constitutional-limits criminal-law criminal-sanctions due-process interstate-commerce plain-error-review statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-evidence sullivan-v-louisiana Whether 18 U.S.C. §2252A(5)(B) authorizes conviction upon proof that materials used to produce child pornography once crossed state lines at an unspec…
18-5153 Arthur Wayne Kniffley v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-07-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP ball-v-united-states blockburger-test child-pornography criminal-conviction double-jeopardy double-jeopardy,child-pornography,fifth-amendment, double-jeopardy,fifth-amendment,child-pornography, fifth-amendment mandatory-life-sentence mandatory-sentencing sentencing-discretion Whether a conviction for producing child pornography violates the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment because the defendant was previously c…
18-5038 Neil Sweeney v. United States First Circuit 2018-06-29 Denied IFP administrative-law child-pornography circuit-court-split civil-procedure due-process equal-protection federal-rules-of-evidence-403 federal-rules-of-evidence-414 standing statutory-interpretation Whether the differing applications of the Circuit Courts' balancing tests under Federal Rules of Evidence 403 and 414 resulted in a violation of the p…