Elonis v. United States

Elonis v. United States

Argument analysis: Justices seem receptive to inmate’s juror-discrimination claims – Amy Howe

Opinion analysis: Justices sidestep decision on propriety of "cy pres" class-action settlements – Ronald Mann

Opinion analysis: Washington state motor-fuel tax violates Yakama Treaty – Bethany Berger

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Conference of March 15, 2019

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
13-983	3d Cir.	Dec 1, 2014 Tr.Aud.	Jun 1, 2015	8-1	Roberts	OT 2014

Disclosure: John Elwood, a frequent contributor to this blog, is among the counsel to the petitioner in the case.

Holding: The Third Circuit’s instruction, requiring only negligence with respect to the communication of a threat, is not sufficient to support a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), which makes it a federal crime to transmit in interstate commerce “any communication containing any threat . . . to injure the person of another.”

Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 8-1, in an opinion by Chief Justice Roberts on June 1, 2015. Justice Alito filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Justice Thomas filed a dissenting opinion.

A “view” from the Courtroom: Elonis and other June 1 decisions (Mark Walsh)
Opinion analysis: Internet threats still in legal limbo? (Lyle Denniston)
Court difficult to read on Facebook threats: In Plain English (Amy Howe)
Argument analysis: Taking ownership of an Internet rant (Lyle Denniston)
Argument preview: Social media as a crime scene (Lyle Denniston)
Drawing a line between therapy and threats: In Plain English (Amy Howe)
On religion issues, children are still different (Lyle Denniston)
Petition of the day (Maureen Johnston)

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Dec 20 2013	Application (13A695) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from January 15, 2014 to March 7, 2014, submitted to Justice Alito.
Jan 6 2014	Application (13A695) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until February 14, 2014.
Feb 14 2014	Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 21, 2014)
Mar 12 2014	Order extending time to file response to petition to and including April 21, 2014.
Mar 21 2014	Brief amici curiae of Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, et al. filed.
Apr 21 2014	Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
May 5 2014	Reply of petitioner Anthony Douglas Elonis filed.
May 6 2014	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of May 22, 2014.
May 27 2014	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of May 29, 2014.
Jun 2 2014	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 5, 2014.
Jun 9 2014	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 12, 2014.
Jun 16 2014	Petition GRANTED In addition to the question presented by the petition, the parties are directed to brief and argue the following question: "Whether, as a matter of statutory interpretation, conviction of threatening another person under 18 U. S. C. §875(c) requires proof of the defendant's subjective intent to threaten."
Jul 7 2014	The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including August 15, 2014.
Jul 7 2014	The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including September 29, 2014.
Jul 8 2014	Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for the petitioner.
Jul 30 2014	Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs, in support of either party or of neither party, received from counsel for the respondent.
Aug 15 2014	Joint appendix (2 volumes) filed. (Statement of costs filed.)
Aug 15 2014	Brief of petitioner Anthony Douglas Elonis filed.
Aug 18 2014	Brief amici curiae of Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, et al. filed.
Aug 22 2014	Brief amici curiae of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc. (PETA), et al. filed.
Aug 22 2014	Brief amicus curiae of Center for Individual Rights filed.
Aug 22 2014	Brief amici curiae of Student Press Law Center, et al. filed.
Aug 22 2014	Brief amici curiae of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, et al. filed.
Aug 22 2014	Brief amici curiae of American Civil Liberties Union, et al. filed.
Aug 22 2014	Brief amici curiae of Rutherford Institute, et al. filed.
Aug 22 2014	Brief amici curiae of Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, et al. filed.
Sep 4 2014	SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, December 1, 2014.
Sep 22 2014	Brief amicus curiae of National Center for Victims of Crime filed.
Sep 22 2014	Record requested from U.S.C.A. 3rd Circuit.
Sep 29 2014	Brief of respondent United States filed.
Oct 2 2014	Brief amici curiae of Wisconsin, et al. filed. (Distributed)
Oct 6 2014	Brief amici curiae of National Network to End Domestic Violence, et al. filed.
Oct 6 2014	Brief amicus curiae of Anti-Defamation League filed.
Oct 6 2014	Brief amici curiae of Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project, et al. filed.
Oct 6 2014	Brief amicus curiae of Criminal Justice Legal Foundation filed. (Distributed)
Oct 27 2014	CIRCULATED.
Oct 29 2014	Reply of petitioner Anthony Douglas Elonis filed. (Distributed)
Nov 3 2014	Record received from U.S.C.A. 3rd Circuit. The record is electronic.
Dec 1 2014	Argued. For petitioner: John P. Elwood, Washington, D. C. For respondent: Michael R. Dreeben, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C.
Jun 1 2015	Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Roberts, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, JJ., joined. Alito, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Thomas, J., filed a dissenting opinion.
Jul 6 2015	JUDGMENT ISSUED.

Featured Posts

Argument analysis: Justices seem receptive to inmate’s juror-discrimination claims – Amy Howe

Opinion analysis: Justices sidestep decision on propriety of "cy pres" class-action settlements – Ronald Mann

Opinion analysis: Washington state motor-fuel tax violates Yakama Treaty – Bethany Berger
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This Week at the Court
The Supreme Court released orders from the March 15 conference on Monday. The justices granted four cases for next term: Kansas v. Garcia, Mathena v. Malvo, Ramos v. Louisiana and Kahler v. Kansas. The justices also called for the views of the U.S. solicitor general in two cases: Patterson v. Walgreen Co. and Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. v. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.
On Tuesday, the justices released their opinions in three cases: Air and Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries, Nielsen v. Preap and Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den Inc.
On Wednesday, the justices released their opinions in two cases: Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP and Frank v. Gaos.
On Monday, the justices heard oral argument in Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill and Smith v. Berryhill.
On Tuesday, the justices heard oral argument in Cochise Consultancy Inc. v. United States, ex rel. Hunt.
On Wednesday, the justices heard oral argument in Flowers v. Mississippi.
On Friday, the justices meet for their March 22 conference.
Major Cases
- Lamone v. Benisek
  In case in which the plaintiffs allege that a Maryland congressional district was gerrymandered to retaliate against them for their political views: (1) whether the various legal claims articulated by the three-judge district court are unmanageable; (2) whether the three-judge district court erred when, in granting plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, it resolved disputes of material fact as to multiple elements of plaintiffs’ claims, failed to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and treated as “undisputed” evidence that is the subject of still-unresolved hearsay and other evidentiary objections; and (3) whether the three-judge district court abused its discretion in entering an injunction despite the plaintiffs’ years-long delay in seeking injunctive relief, rendering the remedy applicable to at most one election before the next decennial census necessitates another redistricting.
- Kisor v. Wilkie
  Whether the Supreme Court should overrule Auer v. Robbins and Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., which direct courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of its own ambiguous regulation.
- Rucho v. Common Cause
  (1) Whether plaintiffs have standing to press their partisan gerrymandering claims; (2) whether plaintiffs’ partisan gerrymandering claims are justiciable; and (3) whether North Carolina’s 2016 congressional map is, in fact, an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.
- New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York, New York
  Whether New York City’s ban on transporting a licensed, locked and unloaded handgun to a home or shooting range outside city limits is consistent with the Second Amendment, the commerce clause and the constitutional right to travel.
- The American Legion v. American Humanist Association
  (1) Whether a 93-year-old memorial to the fallen of World War I is unconstitutional merely because it is shaped like a cross; (2) whether the constitutionality of a passive display incorporating religious symbolism should be assessed under the tests articulated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, Van Orden v. Perry, Town of Greece v. Galloway or some other test; and (3) whether, if the test from Lemon v. Kurtzman applies, the expenditure of funds for the routine upkeep and maintenance of a cross-shaped war memorial, without more, amounts to an excessive entanglement with religion in violation of the First Amendment.
- Gamble v. United States
  Whether the Supreme Court should overrule the “separate sovereigns” exception to the double jeopardy clause.
see all this term’s cases »
Recent Decisions
- Frank v. Gaos This class action settlement case is remanded for the courts below to address the plaintiffs’ standing in light of Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins.
- Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP A business engaged in no more than nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings is not a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, except for the limited purpose of enforcing security interests under 15 U. S. C. §1692f(6).
- Air and Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries In the maritime tort context, a product manufacturer has a duty to warn when its product requires incorporation of a part, the manufacturer knows or has reason to know that the integrated product is likely to be dangerous for its intended uses, and the manufacturer has no reason to believe that the product’s users will realize that danger.
- Nielsen v. Preap The judgments of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit -- that respondents, who are deportable for certain specified crimes, are not subject to 8 U. S. C. §1226(c)(2)’s mandatory-detention requirement because they were not arrested by immigration officials as soon as they were released from jail -- are reversed, and the cases are remanded.
- Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den Inc. The Supreme Court of Washington’s judgment -- that the “right to travel” provision of the 1855 Treaty Between the United States and the Yakama Nation of Indians pre-empts the state’s fuel tax as applied to Cougar Den’s importation of fuel by public highway for sale within the reservation -- is affirmed.
see all this term’s cases »
Current Relists
- Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda Whether the prohibition in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1), against employment discrimination “because of . . . sex” encompasses discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation.
- Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia Whether discrimination against an employee because of sexual orientation constitutes prohibited employment discrimination “because of . . . sex” within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2.
- Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky Inc. (1) Whether a state may require health-care facilities to dispose of fetal remains in the same manner as other human remains, i.e., by burial or cremation; and (2) whether a state may prohibit abortions motivated solely by the race, sex or disability of the fetus and require abortion doctors to inform patients of the prohibition.
More Petitions »
Recent Special Features
Statistical Snapshot

Cases argued 52

Cases decided 26

Summary reversals 4

Merits cases granted to date 74

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Justice Sotomayor and Eva Longoria Bastón

On March 1, Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke with actress Eva Longoria Bastón about Sotomayor’s life, her new children’s book and more.

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Cases argued	52
Cases decided	26
Summary reversals	4
Merits cases granted to date	74

1
Conference

4
Orders
Opinions

15
Conference

18
Orders
VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES V. BETHUNE-HILL (18-281)
SMITH V. BERRYHILL (17-1606)

19
COCHISE CONSULTANCY INC. V. U.S., EX REL. HUNT (18-315)
Opinions

20
FLOWERS V. MISSISSIPPI (17-9572)
Opinions

22
Conference

25
Orders
PDR NETWORK, LLC V. CARLTON & HARRIS CHIROPRACTIC INC. (17-1705)
THE DUTRA GROUP V. BATTERTON (18-266)

26
RUCHO V. COMMON CAUSE (18-422)
LAMONE V. BENISEK (18-726)

27
KISOR V. WILKIE (18-15)

29
Conference