congressional-intent

61 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-762 Ian Freeman, fka Ian Bernard v. United States First Circuit 2025-12-29 Pending Response Waived administrative-law agency-rulemaking congressional-intent financial-regulation regulatory-authority statutory-interpretation virtual-currency Did the federal agency FinCEN exceed the authority granted in 2001 by Congress in 31 U.S.C. § 5330 to regulate money transmitting businesses when FinC…
25A581 Ashley Grayson v. United States Sixth Circuit 2025-11-17 Application clean-hands-doctrine congressional-intent judicial-exception privacy-protection statutory-interpretation wiretap-act Whether a federal court may judicially create a 'clean-hands' exception to the Federal Wiretap Act's statutory prohibition on using improperly interce…
25-6132 Wesley Mark Sudbury v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-11-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof congressional-intent evidence-law fundamental-rights legal-procedure statutory-interpretation 1. Whether a mandatory statute enacted by Congress to protect an important fundamental right titled Prohibition of use as evidence of intercepted wir…
25-388 Adam Pajer, et al. v. Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., et al. Eleventh Circuit 2025-10-02 Denied Response Waived ada-interpretation congressional-intent disability-discrimination judicial-usurpation separation-of-powers statutory-construction (1) Whether a judicial conclusion that no set of facts can plausibly exist to plead under the ADA that an employer regards an employee as presently di…
24-7527 Kh'Lajuwon Amari Murat v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2025-06-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP congressional-intent judicial-construction plain-meaning revocation statutory-interpretation supervised-release Whether, when a district court revokes a term of supervised release and imposes a period of imprisonment followed by a new term of supervised release,…
24-828 Ricky Durham v. Richard Adams, Warden Missouri 2025-02-04 Denied Response Waived congressional-intent criminal-prosecution federal-preemption habeas-corpus postal-worker-protection supremacy-clause Whether the Supremacy Clause preempts state prosecution of a criminal defendant for killing a postal worker when Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. § 1114 to …
24-6374 James Clifford Goodwin, III v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-01-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion congressional-intent constitutional-challenge ex-post-facto ineffective-assistance restitution Whether it is an abuse of discretion to impose a judgment that does not adhere to congressional mandates or statutes when the defendant committed an o…
24-671 Mark Holliday, Liquidating Trustee of the BosGen Liquidating Trust v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, et al. Second Circuit 2024-12-20 Denied Response Waived avoidance-powers bankruptcy-code congressional-intent fraudulent-transfer safe-harbor securities-transfer Does the Second Circuit's holding that courts may collapse an initial transfer with subsequent transfers to bring an initial transfer within the § 546…
24-242 In Re Peter K. Stern 2024-09-04 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) congressional-intent fifth-amendment judicial-bias prosecutorial-misconduct sixth-amendment subject-matter-jurisdiction Whether the District Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and whether prosecutorial misconduct and judicial bias warrant reversal of the petitione…
24-5069 Phile Andra Watson v. FedEx Express Fifth Circuit 2024-07-12 Denied Relisted (2)IFP ada-discrimination americans-with-disabilities-act but-for-causation causation causation-standard congressional-intent disability-discrimination disability-rights employment-law motivating-factor What is the appropriate standard for determining causation under the ADA?
23-7779 Nalerton Charles v. United States Second Circuit 2024-06-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-rights congressional-intent constitutional-rights due-process judicial-review plea-bargaining prosecutorial-discretion public-policy Whether the time has come for this Court to exercise supervision over the ever-expanding prosecutorial practice of requiring defendants to give up the…
23A174 Maria Navarro Carrillo, et al. v. New York City Department of Education, et al. Second Circuit 2023-08-25 Presumed Complete congressional-intent disabled-students FAPE free-appropriate-public-education individuals-with-disabilities-education-act state-administrative-deference Whether the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act permits states to provide greater protections to disabled students than those mandated by the …
23-137 Yvonne Crews v. Denis R. McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Federal Circuit 2023-08-15 Denied Response Waived administrative-law appellate-procedure clear-error congressional-intent effective-date federal-circuit statutory-interpretation substitution substitution-of-claimant veterans-benefits When Congress enacted 38 U.S.C. § 5121A to authorize for the substitution of a deceased claimant, was its intent clear that a substituted appellant co…
23-93 Kevion Rogers v. Jeffrey Jarrett, et al. Fifth Circuit 2023-08-01 Denied Amici (1)Response Waived civil-rights codification common-law-immunity congressional-intent due-process qualified-immunity section-1983 statutory-interpretation traditional-common-law Whether the qualified-immunity doctrine is irreconcilable with the text of Section 1983 as Congress originally enacted it in 1871
23-5202 Aaron Abadi, et al. v. Transportation Security Administration District of Columbia 2023-07-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-law agency-authority air-carrier-access-act congressional-intent covid-19 health-regulations major-questions-doctrine pandemic-response statutory-interpretation transportation-security tsa-authority Did TSA have the authority to mandate nationwide restrictions and mandates with regards to health-related issues
22-7664 Forest Mitchell Kirst v. United States Ninth Circuit 2023-05-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-law agency-investigation congressional-intent criminal-procedure due-process federal-agency federal-jurisdiction obstruction-of-justice statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. § 1505 applies to accident investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an agency that has no power to take en…
22-790 Vanessa Wereko v. Lori Rosen, et al. Seventh Circuit 2023-02-22 Denied Response Waived 28-usc-1291 28-usc-1292 appellate-jurisdiction civil-procedure congressional-intent discretionary-appeal district-court interlocutory-appeal judicial-discretion status-quo statutory-interpretation Whether Congress' intent for an interlocutory appeal as of right, under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1), can be 'unilaterally converted into a discretionary ap…
22-736 Willie Lumarris Baxter v. United States Fourth Circuit 2023-02-07 Denied Response Waived 18-usc-924(e) armed-career-criminal congressional-intent drug-offenses fourth-circuit predicate-offenses sentencing sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation Was the Fourth Circuit's rejection of the Petitioner, Willie Baxter's argument that the prior offenses for serious drug offenses included in a prior i…
22-629 David Holbrook v. Tennessee Valley Authority, et al. Fourth Circuit 2023-01-09 Denied administrative-law agency-discretion congressional-intent government-corporation judicial-review public-utilities rate-setting statutory-interpretation Do federal courts have authority to review TVA's fidelity to its enabling statute, or is TVA's rate-setting excepted from all judicial review even whe…
22-6338 Lucas Michael McNulty-Snodgrass v. United States Eighth Circuit 2022-12-19 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP commerce-clause congressional-intent contraband drug-possession federal-preemption federalism jurisdictional-conflict Question not identified. separation-of-powers state-sovereignty Whether the United States Department of Justice and Federal courts have jurisdiction to prosecute illicit drug possession crimes committed solely with…
22-6041 David Williams, III v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-11-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP 28-usc-2255 congressional-intent conviction-review eighth-amendment equitable-tolling fifth-amendment government-misconduct section-2255 whether-defendant's-conviction-and-sentence-for-nonexistent-crimes-violates-constitution
22-319 Saloojas, Inc. v. Aetna Health of California, Inc. Ninth Circuit 2022-10-05 Denied Response Waived cares-act congressional-intent diagnostic-testing healthcare-reimbursement private-remedy private-right-of-action reimbursement statutory-interpretation Did Congress have an implicit intent to create a private remedy in favor of diagnostic testing providers for full reimbursement under the CARES Act?
21-1380 Seun Banjo Ojedokun v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-04-26 Denied Response Waived civil-cases congressional-intent criminal-statute extraterritorial-application presumption-against-extraterritoriality statutory-interpretation supreme-court-precedent Whether, as in civil cases, a clear indication of congressional intent is required to rebut the presumption against extraterritorial application of a …
21-7301 Bogdan Nicolescu v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-03-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP access-devices congressional-intent criminal-enhancement criminal-sentencing guideline-commentary identity-theft sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation unauthorized-access-device wireless-telephone-protection-act Whether Application Note 2 bars the 2-level enhancement for trafficking of unauthorized access devices in Aggravated Identity Theft cases
21-7238 Holli Wrice v. United States Seventh Circuit 2022-03-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3582 3553(a)-factors compassionate-release congressional-intent criminal-justice-reform criminal-procedure extraordinary-and-compelling extraordinary-circumstances retroactive-sentencing sentencing-reduction sentencing-reform statutory-interpretation Whether district courts can reduce a defendant's sentence based on the reason that the defendant is serving a sentence for an offense for which the pe…
21-813 Michael Peck v. Department of Labor, Administrative Review Board, et al. Fourth Circuit 2021-12-01 Denied Response Waived civil-rights congressional-intent energy-reorganization-act nrc-employment nuclear-regulatory-commission sovereign-immunity statutory-interpretation whistleblower whistleblower-protection Did Congress waive sovereign immunity for NRC whistleblowers?
21-769 Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians v. Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of Michigan, et al. Sixth Circuit 2021-11-23 Denied Amici (1) allotment congressional-intent federal-reservation indian-land-rights indian-law sixth-circuit-ruling statutory-interpretation superintendence treaty-interpretation treaty-of-detroit treaty-rights Whether the 1855 Treaty of Detroit established a federal reservation for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians?
21-6311 Curtis R. Gaylord v. Denis R. McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Federal Circuit 2021-11-17 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP administrative-law congressional-intent constitutional-rights discretionary-authority due-process fifth-amendment property-rights public-policy va-proceedings va-regulations veterans-benefits Are Veterans benefits a property right/interest protected under the United States Constitution, Fifth Amendment?
21-675 Jeffrey G. Carswell, et al. v. E. Pihl & Sons, et al. First Circuit 2021-11-05 Denied administrative-law administrative-support congressional-intent director-standing federal-review-jurisdiction jurisdictional-review labor-director longshore-and-harbor-workers-compensation-act private-fund statutory-interpretation wage-loss-claims workers-compensation Whether the First Circuit's finding that a US Labor Director could oppose Petitioners' wage-loss claims to protect a privately-financed Fund violates …
21-318 Mark Leyse v. Bank of America, National Association Third Circuit 2021-09-01 Denied Response Waived article-iii-standing congress-lawmaking-authority congressional-intent consumer-protection intangible-harms spokeo-v-robins statutory-harm telemarketing-regulation telephone-consumer-protection-act unsolicited-telemarketing whether-congress-has-authority-to-identify-intangible-harms-under-article-iii
20-8464 Alberto Solar-Somohano v. The Coca-Cola Company, et al. Federal Circuit 2021-06-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP appointment-clause article-i congressional-intent constitutional constitutional-challenge enrolled-bill enrolled-bill-doctrine field-v-clark judicial-review patent patent-trademark-judges Whether Arthrex a hoax does not control be foreclosed from deciding appointment clause problem instead is Field v. Clark 143 US 649 (1892) that contro…
20-7878 Maci Denon Davis and Joe L. Franklin v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-04-28 Denied Relisted (2)IFP congress congressional-intent discretion district-court eighth-circuit first-step-act sentencing-commission sentencing-guidelines unwarranted-disparities Whether the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals incorrectly found that the district court was permitted to tether itself to the United States Sentencing G…
20-1455 Deborah Cheng v. Mary Raleigh, et al. Illinois 2021-04-16 Denied Response Waived 2016-obama's-snt-law 21st-century-cures-act congressional-intent healthcare-law implementation-scope planned-national-implementation probate-exception special-needs-trust statutory-interpretation Did Congress intend the probate exception to include the 2016 Obama's SNT law in the 21st Century Cures Act?
20-7218 Crystal Zuniga v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-02-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP 21-usc-856 congressional-intent double-counting drug-involved-premise drug-sentencing fair-sentencing-act precedent sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Whether Congress intended The Fair Sentencing Act to more severely punish persons sentenced under 21 U.S.C. §856 in what is a departure from over 20 y…
20-7159 Danny L. Smith v. Alabama, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2021-02-16 Denied IFP appellate-review civil-rights congressional-intent court-procedure due-process federal-courts federal-jurisdiction habeas-corpus legal-conflict standing statutory-interpretation Whether the lower court's decision bars petitioner's claims of statutory rights under 28 U.S.C. § 2255
20-5576 Sarina Ann Williams v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-09-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split congressional-intent conspiracy federal-law sentencing-guidelines sex-trafficking Whether the crime of Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion carries a base offense level of 34 or 14
20-271 Vilox Technologies, LLC v. Andre Iancu, Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office Federal Circuit 2020-09-02 Denied Relisted (2) administrative-judges administrative-patent-judges appointments-clause congressional-intent executive-review patent-trial-and-appeal-board severance-remedy tenure-protections Whether the court of appeals' severance remedy of the Appointments Clause violation of Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) is consistent with congress…
20-5093 Dion Clayborn v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-07-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP career-offender congressional-intent deference-to-agency drug-trafficking guideline-commentary recidivism sentencing-commission sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Whether the Eighth Circuit's interpretation of 28 U.S.C. § 994(h) and the Sentencing Commission's use of commentary to expand the definition of 'contr…
19-1459 Polaris Innovations Limited v. Kingston Technology Company, Inc., et al. Federal Circuit 2020-07-06 GVR Amici (2)Relisted (3) 35-usc-311 administrative-patent-judges appointments-clause civil-service-protections congressional-intent constitutional-remedy ipr-statute patent-law severance statutory-interpretation tenure-protections Whether severance of the tenure protections for Administrative Patent Judges ('APJs) was unavailable to the Arthrex court to remedy the violation of t…
19-1019 Texas, et al. v. California, et al. Fifth Circuit 2020-02-14 Judgment Issued affordable-care-act affordable-care-act-aca congress congressional-intent constitutional-interpretation due-process health-insurance individual-mandate severability standing tax Whether the unconstitutional individual mandate to purchase minimum essential coverage is severable from the remainder of the ACA
19-995 Michael J. Murray v. Mayo Clinic, et al. Ninth Circuit 2020-02-10 Denied americans-with-disabilities-act causation causation-standard congressional-intent disability-discrimination discrimination motivating-factor statutory-interpretation Is the 'motivating factor' standard most consistent with the plain language and purposes of the ADA, and Congressional intent, and therefore the appro…
19-7341 Joey D. Wiseman, Jr. v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-01-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP congressional-intent criminal-law drug-crimes drug-felonies drug-policy drug-trafficking due-process equal-protection sentencing sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation Whether Congress should re-evaluate the inequity in changing the enhancement level for prior drug felonies under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A)-(B) but not…
19-7234 Denzel Chisholm, aka Den, aka Din v. United States First Circuit 2020-01-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP anti-drug-abuse-act anti-drug-abuse-act-1986 anti-drug-abuse-act-of-1986 congressional-intent criminal-law criminal-sentencing drug-offense proportionality retail-level-manager sentencing sentencing-reasonableness statutory-interpretation substantive-reasonableness Whether a 342-month sentence for a retail-level manager is substantively reasonable where it far exceeds a sentence that properly accounts for Congres…
19-741 Estate of Esther Klieman, By and Through Its Administrator, Aaron Kesner, et al. v. Palestinian Authority, aka Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority, et al. District of Columbia 2019-12-11 GVR anti-terrorism-act civil-liability civil-litigation congress-power congressional-intent criminal-prosecution due-process fifth-amendment foreign-sovereign Whether the PA-PLO has the right to raise a Due Process defense under the Fifth Amendment
19-6661 Jean Bernier, aka Charles Watson v. United States Second Circuit 2019-11-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP congressional-encroachment congressional-intent general-savings-clause habeas-corpus judicial-interpretation judicial-powers mandate-recall sentencing-enhancement separation-of-powers statutory-clarification statutory-interpretation Is the principle of separation-of-powers, which prohibits judicial encroachment on the exclusive power of Congress to make laws, violated, when a cour…
19-6293 Dwight Knowles v. United States District of Columbia 2019-10-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-court-jurisprudence congressional-intent conspiracy criminal-conspiracy criminal-law criminal-statute due-process extraterritorial-conspiracy extraterritorial-jurisdiction extraterritorial-offenses extraterritoriality federal-jurisdiction statutory-interpretation territorial-application Whether federal conspiracy statutes apply extraterritorially when the object of the conspiracy is an extraterritorial offense but there is no clear in…
19-339 Eugene J. Sonnier, II v. Catholic Foundation of The Diocese of Lafayette, et al. Louisiana 2019-09-13 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) armed-forces congressional-intent dis-internment federal-law federal-preemption military-benefits military-remains preemption remains-disposition service-member-rights state-statute Whether Louisiana's dis-internment statute is preempted by federal law and conflicts with congressional intent regarding the rights of members of the …
19-5911 Paul R. Butts v. Eric D. Wilson, Warden Fifth Circuit 2019-09-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP 28-usc-2255 actual-innocence congressional-intent congressional-interpretation federal-prisoner habeas-corpus judicial-review saving-clause statutory-interpretation Does the 'saving clause' of 28 U.S.C. §2255 provide an avenue of judicial review for a federal prisoner to claim his actual innocence due to a congres…
18-1474 Sunoco, Inc. v. United States Federal Circuit 2019-05-24 Denied Amici (1) congressional-intent excise-tax federal-circuit renewable-fuels statutory-interpretation tax-credits tax-incentives tax-liability tax-system Whether the Federal Circuit properly held that tax credits operate as a reduction of tax liability rather than as a payment of taxes owed
18-1407 Anita M. Barrow v. B. Grant Willis, et al. First Circuit 2019-05-08 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) civil-rights civil-rights-act congressional-intent constitutional-violation discrimination due-process equitable-tolling fair-housing-act federal-jurisdiction pro-se-litigant Should the First Circuit Court have applied the doctrine of equitable tolling regarding Appellant's tardy brief and heard the merits of the case with …
18-9103 Milton Thomas, Sr. v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, et al. Third Circuit 2019-05-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP 28-usc-1334 article-iii bankruptcy-court-jurisdiction bankruptcy-jurisdiction congressional-intent district-court-jurisdiction fraudulent-transfer non-core-proceeding non-core-proceedings stem-v-marshall stern-v-marshall Can the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals deny the Act of Congress conferring original and exclusive jurisdiction on the District Court of all civil procee…
18-1281 Hayes B. Milliman v. Timothy L. Randall California 2019-04-08 Denied Relisted (2) bankruptcy bankruptcy-law congressional-intent constitutional-interpretation diversity-jurisdiction federal-jurisdiction federal-question markham-v-allen probate-exception state-probate-court trust trusts wills What is the scope of the probate exception to federal jurisdiction?
18-7388 David Romo v. Ray Ormond, Warden Sixth Circuit 2019-01-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP 21-usc-802(44) 21-usc-841 categorical-analysis categorical-approach congressional-intent due-process felony-drug-offense recidivist-clause recidivist-enhancement statutory-interpretation vagueness Whether the intent of Congress was to restrict the application of 21 U.S.C. § 841's recidivist enhancement to prior drug trafficking crimes that quali…
18-7317 Willie Davis v. United States Third Circuit 2019-01-08 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP administrative-law civil-procedure civil-rights congressional-intent due-process judicial-review separation-of-powers statutory-interpretation Whether the Appellate Court's reading of 18 U.S.C. 2 overrides Congressional intent?
18-6951 Jamal Cooper v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-12-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2518 4th-amendment congressional-intent consent-requirements criminal-procedure exclusionary-rule fourth-amendment franks-v-delaware necessity-requirement omnibus-crime-control-act probable-cause separate-application statutory-interpretation wiretap-application wiretap-necessity wiretap-statute Is 18 U.S.C. § 2518 (1) (ce) a statutory provision that reflects Congress' core concerns and does § 2518 (1)(c) require that each request for a wireta…
18-6824 Martavious Detrel Banks Keys v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-11-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP 349 U.S. 81 (1955) on double-jeopardy bell-v-united-states congressional-intent criminal-procedure double-jeopardy fifth-amendment law-enforcement mens-rea multiple-punishments single-statute testimony Whether the Fifth Circuit violated this Court's holding in Bell v. United States, 349 U.S. 81 (1955), that there must be a showing of congressional in…
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…
18-267 Electronic Privacy Information Center v. Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, et al. District of Columbia 2018-08-31 Denied article-iii article-iii-standing civil-rights congressional-intent due-process federal-election-commission-v-akins federal-question federal-statute informational-injury injury-in-fact judicial-review munsingwear-doctrine munsingwear-vacatur privacy public-disclosure standing standing-injury-in-fact statutory-interpretation Does a plaintiff suffer an Article III injury in fact when the plaintiff fails to obtain information which must be publicly disclosed pursuant to a st…
18-256 Robert Bartlett, et al. v. Honeywell International, Inc. Second Circuit 2018-08-28 Denied Response Waived cercla-preemption circuit-court-review circuit-court-summary-order civil-rights common-law-tort common-law-tort-claims congressional-intent cts-corp-v-waldburger due-process environmental-law judicial-precedent preemption statutory-interpretation torts toxic-exposure Did CERCLA preempt petitioners' common law tort claims?
18-233 Indiezone, Inc., et al. v. Todd Rooke, et al. Ninth Circuit 2018-08-22 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) 28-usc-1927 act-of-state-doctrine congressional-intent due-process extraterritorial-application federal-sanctions inherent-powers rule-44.1 sanctions sovereign-immunity Did Congress intend the court's inherent powers and 28 U.S.C. § 1927 to apply extraterritorially, allowing Rule 44.1 analysis to be applied to oversea…
18-5308 O'Neil Anthony Harris v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-07-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP advisory-guidelines congressional-intent guideline-amendment judicial-discretion sentence-enhancement sentencing-factors sentencing-guidelines sentencing-reform upward-variance Whether a district court disregards congressional intent and imposes an unreasonable sentence when it applies an upward variance to the advisory sente…