Johnson v. Alabama

Petition granted, judgment vacated, and petition remanded to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals for further consideration in light of the position asserted by the respondent in its brief filed on May 10, 2017 on June 26, 2017.

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
16-7835	Ala. Crim. App.	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	OT 2016

Issue: Whether a state court can enforce a rule that Brady v. Maryland does not apply to impeachment evidence when the Supreme Court has held that Brady does apply to impeachment evidence.

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Feb 2 2017	Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 10, 2017)
Mar 3 2017	Order extending time to file response to petition to and including April 10, 2017.
Mar 10 2017	Brief amicus curiae of Death Row Exoneree 138 Anthony Graves filed.
Apr 7 2017	Order further extending time to file response to petition to and including May 10, 2017.
May 10 2017	Brief of respondent Alabama in opposition filed.
May 19 2017	Reply of petitioner Toforest Onesha Johnson filed.
May 24 2017	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 8, 2017.
Jun 12 2017	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 15, 2017.
Jun 19 2017	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 22, 2017.
Jun 26 2017	Motion to proceed in forma pauperis and petition for a writ of certiorari GRANTED. Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED for further consideration in light of the position asserted by the respondent in its brief filed on May 10, 2017. The CHIEF JUSTICE, with whom JUSTICE THOMAS, JUSTICE ALITO, and JUSTICE GORSUCH join, dissenting: The Court vacates the judgment below in light of the position asserted by the respondent in its brief. That position is that the Court should vacate a state court judgment for further consideration in light of Ex parte Beckworth, 190 So. 3d 571 (Ala. 2013). Beckworth is a state court decision that turns entirely on state procedural law. It was expressly called to the attention of the state courts, which declined to upset the decision below in light of it. Reply to Pet. for Cert. 2, n. 1. The question presented concerns state collateral reviewpurely a creature of state law that need not be provided at all. Whatever ones view on the propriety of our practice of vacating judgments based on positions of the parties, see Hicks v. United States, 582 U. S. ___ (2017), the Courts decision to vacate this state court judgment is truly extraordinary. I respectfully dissent.
Jul 28 2017	MANDATE ISSUED.
Jul 28 2017	JUDGMENT ISSUED.

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The Supreme Court released additional orders from the January 11 conference on Monday; the justices called for the views of the U.S. solicitor general in CSX Transportation Inc. v. Alabama Department of Revenue, Alabama Department of Revenue v. CSX Transportation Inc. and Toshiba Corp. v. Automotive Industries Pension Trust Fund.
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Editor's Note :

Johnson v. Alabama

Featured Posts

Opinion analysis: Justices uphold arbitration exemption for transportation workers in rare victory for arbitration opponents – Ronald Mann

Argument analysis: When is the government not really the government for immunity from tort liability? – Gregory Sisk

Argument analysis: Quiescent bench dubious about broad fee awards in copyright cases – Ronald Mann

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Peabody Award

Sigma Delta Chi

National Press Club Award

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American Gavel Award

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