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Thomas v. Lumpkin

Petition for a writ of certiorari denied on October 11, 2022. Justice Sotomayor, with whom Justices Kagan and Jackson join, dissent from the denial of certiorari.
Docket No. Op. Below Argument Opinion Vote Author Term
21-444 5th Cir. N/A N/A N/A N/A OT 2022

Issues: (1) Whether, under the Supreme Court’s clearly established precedent, Andre Thomas—an African American man who, during a schizophrenic episode, killed his estranged white wife, their son, and her daughter— was denied his constitutional right to be tried by an impartial jury, when three jurors at Thomas’s capital trial expressed opposition to people of different races marrying and having children—writing on their voir dire questionnaires that such relationships are “against God’s will,” that we should “stay with our Blood Line,” and that the children of interracial relationships are denied “a specific race to belong to”—and when the jurors never disclaimed those views or said they could set them aside to consider Thomas’s mental illness and make the individualized sentencing judgment required by the Constitution; and (2) whether Thomas was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel, when defense counsel did not object to, or seek to strike, any of those three jurors, and failed to ask two of them a single question about their bias.

DateProceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Sep 20 2021Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 22, 2021)
Oct 07 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 22, 2021 to November 22, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
Oct 08 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 22, 2021.
Oct 22 2021Brief amici curiae of Former Prosecutors and Judges filed.
Nov 12 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 22, 2021 to December 7, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
Nov 15 2021Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including December 7, 2021.
Dec 07 2021Brief of respondent Lumpkin, TDCJ in opposition filed.
Dec 17 2021Reply of petitioner Andre Thomas filed.
Dec 22 2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/7/2022.
Jan 05 2022Rescheduled.
Jan 10 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/14/2022.
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Mar 28 2022Rescheduled.
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Apr 12 2022Rescheduled.
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Apr 19 2022Rescheduled.
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May 16 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/19/2022.
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May 31 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/2/2022.
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Jun 29 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/29/2022.
Jun 30 2022Record Requested.
Aug 15 2022Record received from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (4 boxes of state court records).
Sep 12 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
Oct 03 2022DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/7/2022.
Oct 11 2022Petition DENIED. Justice Sotomayor, with whom Justice Kagan and Justice Jackson join, dissenting from the denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion)
Oct 11 2022Record returned to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (4 boxes of state court records).