scienter

42 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-1126 Eli Lilly and Company v. United States, et al., ex. rel., Ronald J. Streck Seventh Circuit 2026-03-27 Pending false-claims-act medicaid-fraud qui-tam-relator scienter separation-of-powers treble-damages 1. Whether the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions are unconstitutional. 2. Whether a legal interpretation can be deemed so "objectively unreasonab…
24A594 Steven Zorn, et al. v. Stephen B. Grant, on Behalf of the United States and the State of Iowa, et al. Eighth Circuit 2024-12-17 Presumed Complete audit-letter billing-codes false-claims-act public-disclosure-bar qui-tam scienter Question not identified.
24-5752 Norman Thurber v. United States Eighth Circuit 2024-10-11 Denied IFP criminal-responsibility federal-criminal-law intent mens-rea scienter statutory-interpretation Is there a mens rea requirement for Scienter in 18 U.S.C. Section 2251, since "... criminal responsibility may not be imposed without some element of …
23-970 NVIDIA Corporation, et al. v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-03-06 Judgment Issued Amici (18)Relisted (2) class-action expert-opinion falsity falsity-allegations internal-documents pleading-requirements pslra scienter securities-fraud 1. Whether plaintiffs seeking to allege scienter under the PSLRA based on allegations about internal company documents must plead with particularity t…
23A578 NVIDIA Corporation, et al. v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-12-22 Presumed Complete class-action expert-testimony pleading-standards pslra scienter securities-fraud Question not identified.
23-5383 Ramham Dupriest v. New Jersey New Jersey 2023-08-18 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP first-amendment fourteenth-amendment free-speech minor mistake-of-age obscene-material obscenity scienter I. Does it violate First Amendment free speech protections to convict a person for conduct involving distributing obscene material to a minor without …
22-1020 H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. v. Unicolors, Inc. Ninth Circuit 2023-04-20 Denied Response Waived actual-knowledge civil-action copyright-act copyright-act-1976 copyright-infringement copyright-registration intent-to-defraud knowledge-standard scienter statutory-interpretation Whether § 411(b)(1)(A)'s "knowledge" element requires "actual knowledge," as this Court held, or "intent to defraud," as the Ninth Circuit held on rem…
22-928 Roger Swartz v. Board of Trustees of University of Pennsylvania, et al. Third Circuit 2023-03-23 Denied academic-freedom civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process equitable-tolling extraordinary-circumstances scienter state-action state-actor university-funding 1. When effectively unrestricted research funding —requiring nothing more than a yearly progress update —by the state enables a party such as a Univer…
22-646 Sergey Pustelnik, et al. v. Securities and Exchange Commission Second Circuit 2023-01-11 Denied Response Waived artificiality fraud intent legal-standard market-manipulation scienter securities-exchange-act securities-fraud securities-regulation Whether scienter alone may satisfy the tradition ally separate artificiality requirement to establish market manipulation?
22-6315 Iklas Richard Davis v. United States Third Circuit 2022-12-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP commerce-clause criminal-law criminal-statute due-process federalism felon-in-possession rehaif-v-united-states scienter supreme-court-precedent 1. In United States v. Rehaif, _ U.S. ___, 189 S.Ct. 2191 (2019), this Court acknowledged the presumption in favor of scienter — that criminal statute…
22-374 Troy Olhausen v. Arriva Medical, LLC, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2022-10-21 GVR Relisted (5) circuit-split civil-procedure false-claims-act knowingly objective-reasonableness objective-standard scienter statutory-interpretation subjective-standard Whether a False Claims Act defendant alleged to have "knowingly" violated a provision of federal law can escape liability by articulating, after the f…
22-111 United States, et al., ex rel. Thomas Proctor v. Safeway, Inc. Seventh Circuit 2022-08-05 Judgment Issued Relisted (3) circuit-split civil-procedure false-claims-act government-contracts knowingly-violated legal-interpretation scienter standing statutory-interpretation subjective-understanding Whether and when a defendant's contemporaneous subjective understanding or beliefs about the lawfulness of its conduct are relevant to whether it "kno…
22-84 Saad Sakkal v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-07-28 GVR controlled-substances-act conviction-appeal criminal-law due-process jury-instruction physician-conviction ruan-standard ruan-v-united-states scienter statutory-interpretation Whether this Court should grant, vacate, and remand a judgment sustaining the conviction of a physician under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) where the jury was…
21-7638 Carlos Jimenez v. United States First Circuit 2022-04-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-defendant criminal-law drug-offenses drug-quantity mandatory-minimums mens-rea scienter sentencing statutory-interpretation supreme-court Whether the government can subject a criminal defendant to the escalating mandatory minimums and maximums under 18 U.S.C. § 841(b), without proving th…
21-1326 United States, et al., ex rel. Tracy Schutte, et al. v. SuperValu Inc., et al. Seventh Circuit 2022-04-05 Judgment Issued CVSGAmici (3)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (4) civil-liability deliberate-ignorance false-claims-act fraud knowingly materiality reckless-disregard scienter statutory-interpretation Whether and when a defendant's contemporaneous subjective understanding or beliefs about the lawfulness of its conduct are relevant to whether it "kno…
21-7066 Kevin Brewer v. United States Eighth Circuit 2022-02-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP arkansas-sex-offender-registration-act certificate-of-innocence constitutional-claim due-process fourteenth-amendment lambert-v-california notice scienter sex-offender-registration 1. Can petitioner be liable for constituting any offense, in which the scienter requirements of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has…
21-6843 In Re Kevin Brewer 2022-01-13 Denied IFP certificate-of-innocence constitutional-claim due-process federal-circuit fourteenth-amendment lambert-v-california scienter The entire panel of active judges in 8th Circuit Court Of Appeals have evaded, refused and failed to address the merits of a constitutional claim with…
21-6119 Roger Edward Picard v. United States First Circuit 2021-10-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-law due-process mens-rea rehaif-v-united-states scienter sorna SORNA-registration supervised-release I. Did the First Circuit depart from this Court's decision in Rehaif v. United States, 588 U.S. ___ (2019), with respect to the presumption in favor o…
21-5511 Jose Cesar Sanchez, et al. v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-08-30 Denied IFP alleyne circuit-split criminal-law drug-conspiracy foreseeability rehaif scienter sentencing sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation Like most other circuits, the Ninth Circuit has long held that an individual coconspirator convicted under 21 U.S.C. § 846 is liable only for the type…
21-69 John Allison Huckabay v. Idaho Idaho 2021-07-19 Denied Amici (2)Response Waived 14th-amendment constitutional-rights criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process felonies felony-prosecution public-welfare-offenses scienter scienter-requirement Without any requirement or proof of scienter, Petitioner was convicted of unlawful possession of a moose carcass out of season, a felony under Idaho l…
21-56 Timothy Muir v. United States Second Circuit 2021-07-15 Denied Response Waived creditor-status criminal-law criminal-rico knowledge-of-law legal-element predicate-offense rico scienter statutory-definition truth-in-lending usury The Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Practices Act ("RICO") does not impose an explicit scienter requirement beyond that of a corresponding predicate o…
20-7958 Anderson Jean v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-05-07 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP aggravated-felon aggravated-felony criminal-statute mens-rea scienter sentencing sentencing-enhancement statutory-interpretation In the wake of Flores-Figueroa v. United States, 556 U.S. 646 (2009), and Rehaif v. United States, 139 S.Ct. 2191 (2019), jurists continue to disagree…
20-7537 Christopher D. Thieme v. New Jersey New Jersey 2021-03-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP cyber-harassment due-process free-speech libel obscenity overbreadth reasonable-person-standard scienter vagueness victim-impact-statements Is New Jersey's "cyber-harassment" statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4.1, constitutionally invalid because it lacks a scienter requirement and relies on a "reas…
20-6508 Jesse Harris v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-12-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split criminal-law drug-offense methamphetamine scienter sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Section 2D1.1(b)(5) of the United State s Sentencing Guidelines provides that "[i]f (A) the offense involve d the importation of ... metham phetam ine…
20-6189 Francisco Javier Nunez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-11-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP 5th-amendment base-offense-level constructive-possession due-process fifth-amendment firearm firearm-enhancement scienter sentencing-enhancement substantive-due-process Whether the District Court denied the Petitioner's constitutional right to substantive due process under the Fifth Amendment in this constructive poss…
20-6097 Francisco J. Martinez v. Adolfo Gonzalez, Chief Probation Officer, San Diego, California Ninth Circuit 2020-10-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP commodities-fraud criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions scienter reasonable doubt in this commodities fraud prosecution.
19-1149 UPMC, et al. v. United States, ex rel. J. William Bookwalter, III, et al. Third Circuit 2020-03-19 Denied Amici (1)Response Waived ambiguity civil-penalty civil-procedure false-claims-act knowledge knowledge-standard pleading-standard regulatory-ambiguity regulatory-provision scienter treble-damages Whether a plaintiff plausibly alleges scienter—that a defendant knowingly submitted false claims—when the plaintiff does not allege any facts to sugge…
19-1087 Charles M. Hallinan v. United States Third Circuit 2020-03-05 Denied Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) civil-procedure criminal-intent fifth-circuit mens-rea rico rico-act-1962-c rico-statute scienter second-circuit second-fifth-eleventh-circuits third-circuit unlawful-debt wire-fraud 1. Whether a person violates 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) by simply knowing an enterprise is collecting a debt that is separately determined to be unlawful, as…
19-7265 Joseph Totoro, II v. United States Third Circuit 2020-01-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure due-process ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel plea-agreement plea-bargaining rule-11 scienter scienter-requirement sixth-amendment sixth-amendment-access-to-courts speedy-trial 1. Did the Court, the United States Attorney, and the former attorneys violate DQJ policy and Due Process by allowing him to give up all his rights, …
19-795 Paul D. Voorhees v. United States Armed Forces 2019-12-20 Denied conduct-unbecoming-an-officer criminal-prosecution criminal-statute due-process mens-rea military-justice negligence negligence-standard rehaif-v-united-states scienter sixth-amendment uniform-code-military-justice uniform-code-of-military-justice Does this mens rea or scienter principle apply to criminal prosecutions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, where the underlying statute at is…
19-5929 Abisai Ramirez-Anguiano v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-09-16 Denied IFP circuit-split criminal-law criminal-procedure drug-offense drug-offenses mens-rea methamphetamine scienter sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Section 2D1.1(b)(5) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines provides that "[i]f (A) the offense involved the importation of ... methamphetamine or …
19-5574 Anthony Ray Welch v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-08-13 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP circuit-split criminal-law drug-importation drug-offenses fifth-circuit listed-chemicals mens-rea methamphetamine methamphetamine-offense scienter scienter-requirement sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Section 2D1.1(b)(5) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines provides that "[i]f (A) the offense involved the importation of ... methamphetamine or …
19-5110 Barry Bays v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-07-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP controlled-substance-analog controlled-substance-analogue controlled-substances criminal-procedure due-process ex-post-facto fifth-amendment fraud scienter scienter-requirement sentencing sentencing-enhancement sixth-amendment I. Whether a defendant's sentence for fraud offenses that applied 21 U.S.C. § 802(32), USSG § 2B1.1(b)(1), and USSG §2D1.1 and treated Bays as a "cont…
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 1. Whether Ohio's imposition of strict liability for even inadvertent, accidental or unknowing dissemination of child pornography violates due process…
18-1030 United States, ex rel. Thomas A. Berg, et al. v. Honeywell International, Inc., et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-02-07 Denied Response Waived energy-savings-performance-contract false-claims-act government-knowledge materiality scienter statutory-interpretation statutory-requirements utility-cost-savings Although fraud-in-the-inducement taints all subsequent payments, belated discovery of the truth can leave the Government with no practical choice but …
18-7816 Jason Brooks v. Phil Weiser, Attorney General of Colorado, et al. Colorado 2019-02-07 Denied IFP constitutional-law criminal-intent criminal-securities-fraud due-process fair-notice mens-rea scienter securities-fraud statutory-interpretation strict-liability willfulness Whether "scienter" is an element of criminal securities fraud and whether its existence is a question of fact that must be proven beyond a reasonable …
18-752 Edward Taupier v. Connecticut Connecticut 2018-12-12 Denied Response Waived civil-procedure criminal-law free-speech mens-rea negligence objective-standard recklessness scienter speech-act state-of-mind true-threats The first question presented is: Whether in a prosecution for speech under the "true threats" doctrine an objective standard of mere recklessness is s…
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 Concerning a violation of KSA 21-3516a(2), given that the images' nature was reasonably disputed, does the right to a de novo review demand the revers…
18-699 Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., et al. v. United States, ex rel. Marjorie Prather Sixth Circuit 2018-11-28 Denied Amici (2) circuit-split civil-procedure false-claims-act government-contractors government-payment materiality pleading-requirements regulatory-violation scienter This Court has affirmed False Claims Act (FCA) liability, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq., under a theory of "implied false certification." See Universal Hea…
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 Governmental regulation of First Amendment rights, particularly freedom of speech and expression, draws close constitutional scrutiny since these righ…
18-418 United States, ex rel. Leatra Harper, et al. v. Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District Sixth Circuit 2018-10-03 Denied civil-procedure constructive-knowledge false-claims-act false-claims-act-31-usc-3729 federal-law mistake-of-law pleading-requirements scienter statutory-interpretation subjective-scienter Whether stating a claim of knowing avoidance of an obligation or conversion under the FCA, 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(G) and (D), requires alleging that d…
18-5831 Willie Riley Curry v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-08-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP 4th-amendment 6th-circuit age-of-victim byrd-v-united-states carpenter-v-united-states criminal-procedure due-process fourth-amendment gvr plain-error scienter search-and-seizure sixth-circuit-review statutory-interpretation The Fourth Amendment has continuously been applied to cases like the one here. The Sixth Circuit failed to follow that jurisprudence. Does Carpenter a…