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Thacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
17-1201	11th Cir.	Jan 14, 2019 Tr.Aud.	TBD	TBD	TBD	OT 2018

Issue: Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit erred by using a “discretionary-function exception” derived from the Federal Tort Claims Act, from which the Supreme Court generally has declined to borrow rules, instead of the test set forth in Federal Housing Authority v. Burr when testing the immunity of governmental “sue and be sued” entities (like the Tennessee Valley Authority), to immunize the Tennessee Valley Authority from the plaintiffs’ claims.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

Argument analysis: When is the government not really the government for immunity from tort liability? (Gregory Sisk)
Argument preview: When the Tennessee Valley Authority’s activities cause personal injury, may it claim discretionary policy immunity from liability? (Gregory Sisk)
Petition of the day (Aurora Barnes)

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Feb 26 2018	Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 29, 2018)
Mar 20 2018	Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 29, 2018 to April 30, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
Mar 21 2018	Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 30, 2018.
Apr 25 2018	Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 30, 2018 to May 30, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
Apr 26 2018	Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 30, 2018.
May 23 2018	Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 30, 2018 to June 29, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
May 24 2018	Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including June 29, 2018.
Jun 29 2018	Brief of respondent Tennessee Valley Authority in opposition filed.
Jul 13 2018	Reply of petitioner Gary Thacker, et ux filed.
Jul 18 2018	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/24/2018.
Sep 27 2018	Petition GRANTED.
Sep 28 2018	The order granting the petition for a writ of certiorari is amended as follows: The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted limited to Question 1 presented by the petition.
Nov 13 2018	Brief of petitioners Gary Thacker, et ux filed.
Nov 19 2018	Joint appendix filed.
Nov 28 2018	SET FOR ARGUMENT ON Monday, January 14, 2019
Nov 30 2018	CIRCULATED
Dec 11 2018	Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 11th Circuit.
Dec 13 2018	Brief of respondent Tennessee Valley Authority filed. (Distributed)
Dec 18 2018	Record received from the U.S.C.A. 11th Circuit is electronic and located on PACER.
Dec 26 2018	Record from the U.S.D.C. Northern Dist. of Alabama is electronic and located on the District courts web site.
Jan 04 2019	Reply of petitioners Gary Thacker, et ux filed. (Distributed)
Jan 14 2019	Argued. For petitioners: Franklin Taylor Rouse, Huntsville, Ala. For respondent: Ann O'Connell Adams, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C.

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Thacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority

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Featured Posts

Argument analysis: Court leaning toward requiring the government to prove that a felon in possession knew he was a felon – Evan Lee

A “view” from the courtroom: Counting to five – Mark Walsh

Argument analysis: Divided court seems ready to uphold citizenship question on 2020 census – Amy Howe

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