minor-protection
32 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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… |
| 25-5577 | Brandon Grunwaldt v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2025-09-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split criminal-statute federal-criminal-law minor-protection statutory-interpretation video-evidence | Does a video of a minor in a bathroom engaged in ordinary grooming activities depict 'the lascivious exhibition of the anus, genitals, or pubic area' … |
| 25-5377 | Vincent Deritis v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2025-08-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | child-exploitation criminal-law minor-protection sexually-explicit-conduct video-voyeurism visual-depiction | Does a video voyeur produce visual depictions of a minor engaged in 'sexually explicit conduct' when he records images showing the minor engaged in on… |
| 24-1203 | Bernhard Jakits v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2025-05-27 | Denied | Response Waived | criminal-law federal-criminal-statute jury-instructions minor-protection sexual-exploitation statutory-interpretation | Whether the district court's jury instructions on 'sexually explicit conduct' and 'lascivious exhibition' were consistent with statutory interpretatio… |
| 24-1202 | John Doe v. Grindr Inc., et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2025-05-23 | Denied | Amici (3)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) | algorithmic-recommendation communications-decency-act minor-protection platform-liability product-design section-230 | Whether Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act immunizes apps from liability for defective product design and insufficient warnings when … |
| 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… |
| 24-6128 | Jonathan High v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2024-12-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split criminal-statute minor-protection sexually-explicit-conduct statutory-interpretation video-evidence | Whether a defendant can be convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 2251 for a video showing a minor engaging in innocuous conduct without editing the video to cre… |
| 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… |
| 24-380 | 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… |
| 23-7796 | Stewart Bitman v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2024-06-25 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-2422(b) actual-innocence criminal-statute enticement ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel minor minor-protection plea-agreement sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation | Whether the petitioner is actually innocent of the counts of conviction |
| 23-6934 | Calvin C. Freeman v. United States | Seventh Circuit | 2024-03-11 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constitutional-vagueness criminal-law criminal-statute due-process minor-protection minors prosecutorial-discretion sex-trafficking statutory-interpretation vagueness | Whether Congress intended the Alternative sex trafficking of children 'OR' by force, fraud, or coercion as Alternative Elements or Alternative Means? |
| 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… |
| 23-625 | 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,… |
| 23-5939 | Brett Northington v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2023-11-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | categorical-approach chapter-reference circuit-split criminal-law legal-definition minor-protection minor-victim sexual-contact statutory-interpretation | Should the definition of 'aggravated sexual contact involving a minor or ward?' be imported into Chapter 110 from Chapter 109A or should a generic mea… |
| 23-5649 | Jonathan Monson v. United States | First Circuit | 2023-09-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-2251 child-exploitation criminal-law criminal-statute due-process interstate-commerce jurisdictional-element minor-protection sexual-exploitation visual-depiction | Does Section 2251(a) of Title 18 require evidence that a defendant sexually exploited a minor for the purpose of producing a visual depiction, and tha… |
| 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… |
| 22-7237 | Eric Grzywinski v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2023-04-07 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | age-of-consent circuit-split courts-of-appeals criminal-enhancement criminal-law esquivel-quintana-v-sessions minor-protection sexual-abuse sexual-offenses statutory-interpretation statutory-rape | Whether a statutory rape offense requires a 16-year-old age of consent to be an 'offense relating to .. sexual abuse, aggravated sexual abuse, or abus… |
| 22-7129 | Thomas P. Thayer v. United States | Seventh Circuit | 2023-03-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | categorical-approach criminal-conviction federal-law minor minor-protection prior-conviction registration-requirement sex-offender-registration sex-offense statutory-interpretation | Whether a categorical approach applies to determining if a prior conviction is a federal 'sex offense' |
| 22-7117 | Noel Macapagal v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-03-27 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | adult-intermediary commerce-clause criminal-enticement enticement federal-crime interstate-commerce minor minor-protection state-authority statutory-interpretation | Whether 18 U.S.C. §2422(b) exceeds Congress's commerce-clause-authority by reaching in-person enticement of a real or fictive minor that is arranged o… |
| 22-6804 | Joseph Mark Williams, Jr. v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2023-02-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal-procedure appellate-procedure civil-procedure criminal-statute due-process legal-timeline minor-protection motion-to-withdraw standing statutory-interpretation supreme-court | Whether the 90 days under 28 U.S.C. § 1254 and Supreme Court Rule 13 applies to an order granting a motion to withdraw an appeal |
| 21-5789 | KT Burgee, aka Kape Teal Burgee v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2021-09-27 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | categorical-approach criminal-classification federal-offense minor minor-protection residual-clause sex-offender-registration sex-offense sorna statutory-interpretation | Should courts apply the categorical approach to determine if a prior conviction qualifies as a sex offense under the SORNA residual clause in 34 U.S.C… |
| 21-171 | Joel Zupnik v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2021-08-05 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) | ' 'entice ' 'induce ' or 'coerce' in 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) require more circuit-split criminal-law due-process federal-jurisdiction federal-state-balance federalism interstate-commerce mens-rea minor-protection sentencing sexual-offense statutory-interpretation | Whether the verbs in 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) require the defendant to transform the minor's will or merely attempt to cause unlawful sexual activity |
| 20-8440 | Jerry Douglas, Jr. v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2021-06-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure federal-question felon-in-possession felon-possession jury-instruction justification-defense minor-child-safety minor-protection second-amendment | Is a defendant entitled to a justification jury instruction on a charge of possession of ammunition in commerce by a felon when the defendant is actin… |
| 20-555 | Kyle Stephen Thompson v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2020-10-27 | Denied | Response Waived | circuit-split criminal-intent criminal-law federal-statute mens-rea minor-protection minors purpose-element sexual-exploitation statutory-interpretation visual-depiction | Whether the 'for the purpose of' element of § 2251(a) means the defendant's prevailing or most influential purpose for the sexually explicit conduct w… |
| 19-1084 | Dayton Michael Cramer v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2020-03-04 | Denied | 18-usc-2422 child-exploitation circuit-split criminal-law due-process intent-element intermediary-communication mens-rea minor-protection sexual-offense statutory-interpretation | Whether communications with an adult intermediary to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce a minor are punishable only if the defendant's interaction wi… | |
| 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… |
| 19-5225 | In Re Jonathan E. Brunson | 2019-07-17 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | civil-rights confidential-records constitutional-review discovery due-process judicial-review minor-protection pennsylvania-v-ritchie records sexual-abuse social-services social-services-records standing | Whether petitioner has a constitutional right to in camera judicial review of confidential social services records | |
| 19-5198 | Robert Rang v. United States | First Circuit | 2019-07-17 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | attempted-coercion attempted-enticement criminal-law due-process enticement-of-a-minor federal-criminal-statute interpersonal-physical-contact mens-rea minor-protection minors sexual-activity sexual-offense sexual-offenses statutory-interpretation | Does a 'substantial step' under 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) require evidence of intended 'Interpersonal physical contact' in order to rise to the level, and/o… |
| 18-6854 | Matthew Lane Durham v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2018-11-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | commerce-clause congressional-power enumerated-powers extraterritorial-jurisdiction foreign-commerce-clause jurisdictional-limits minor-protection noncommercial-activity noneconomic-activity sexual-acts sexual-conduct statutory-interpretation | Did Congress exceed its enumerated powers under the Foreign Commerce Clause by punishing noncommercial, noneconomic sexual acts committed by a U.S. ci… |
| 18-5911 | Manuel Lampon-Paz v. Department of Justice, et al. | Third Circuit | 2018-09-10 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | case-redaction child-abuse child-abuse-neglect child-abuse-or-neglect court-of-appeals fair-trial federal-procedure minor-plaintiff minor-protection ongoing-case ongoing-federal-case plaintiff-rights redaction trial-fairness | Whether a plaintiff can have his case redacted in accordance with laws and regulations about disclosure |
| 18-5637 | Afelix Desir v. Florida | Florida | 2018-08-17 | Denied | IFP | criminal-law criminal-statute due-process fundamental-error information-charging jury-instructions minor minor-protection sexual-activity sexual-offense | Does a trial court commit fundamental error when it instructs a jury regarding both 'Penile/Vaginal intercourse' unlawful sexual activity with specifi… |
| 18-5164 | George Adrien Brooks v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2018-07-06 | Denied | IFP | 18-usc-2422(b) attempted-inducement circuit-split criminal-law criminal-statute federal-criminal-law intent intent-requirement mens-rea minor minor-protection minors sexual-abuse sexual-activity sexual-inducement statutory-interpretation | Whether the required intent for attempted inducement under § 2422(b) is the intent to cause a minor to engage in sexual activity (as the Eleventh Circ… |