Jump to content

Cheeseman v. Polillo - NJ may-issue challenge


Euler

Recommended Posts

I was just looking again at the Supreme Court docket page. I didn't notice it before, but the respondents (essentially the state of NJ) failed to file a response by the due date (August 1) nor have they requested an extension. Meanwhile the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Firearms Policy Foundation, the California Gun Rights Foundation, and the Second Amendment Foundation have asked for permission to file an amici brief.

 

I wonder NJ's play is here. I doubt that it has decided to concede may-issue on behalf of all states that are may-issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep in mind it's an appeal. The court will likely review all previous filings. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

The justices might not ever review any filing and they certainly don't review all previous filings. Cert petitions are not even distributed to the chambers of the justices unless there is a Brief In Opposition filed. No Brief In Opposition filed and none requested equals a D.O.A. cert petition.

 

Unless you see on the SCOTUS docket that the record from the lower court was requested then the decision was made on the briefs.

 

For example, the Peruta v. San Diego cert petition was rejected based on the cert stage briefs. Had the SCOTUS clerks reviewed the record from the lower courts then they would have noticed that neither the cert petition nor the State's Brief In Opposition accurately reflected the case that was decided by the lower courts.

 

That said, the reason why there is no request for a Brief In Opposition might be simply because there is a whole new batch of clerks coming up to speed.

 

As to why New Jersey has not filed a waiver (or extension or BIO), it could be as simple as they haven't been notified that the cert petition has been filed.

 

Or there has been some filing but the docket simply hasn't been updated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No opposition brief has yet been filed (at least none listed on the web docket), but the case documents have been distributed today for an Oct 1 conference.

Let us hope that there is some "vehicle problem" with Cheeseman's petition. Ciolek, another handgun "carry" case out of New Jersey was filed almost three weeks after Cheeseman filed his petition. New Jersey filed a waiver and then SCOTUS requested a response.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Polillo is the city police chief of Gloucester that denied Cheeseman his carry license. Cheeseman also names the NJ superior court judge to which he appealed (and was denied) as a respondent. Ciolek is suing NJ directly (represented by the Morris County DA), even though the city police chief of Denville and an unnamed superior court judge denied him his license.

 

Cheeseman appealed to the NJ supreme court. Ciolek appears not to have (or doesn't mention it in the petition), although he does appear to have sued the city's law division after the city police chief denied him.

 

Cheeseman's petition cites the 2A. Ciolek's petition cites the 2A and 14A.

 

Cheeseman has representation. Ciolek is pro se.

 

Cheeseman has an amicus brief in his favor (which to me seems to make his case better than his representation did) and another favorable amicus brief pending. Ciolek has none.

 

They're both challenging the state's exclusion of general self defense from "justifiable need."

 

If there's a vehicle problem, it's because they seem to have taken different paths to a petition. I guess we'll find out Oct 7.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Polillo is the city police chief of Gloucester that denied Cheeseman his carry license. Cheeseman also names the NJ superior court judge to which he appealed (and was denied) as a respondent. Ciolek is suing NJ directly (represented by the Morris County DA), even though the city police chief of Denville and an unnamed superior court judge denied him his license.

 

Cheeseman appealed to the NJ supreme court. Ciolek appears not to have (or doesn't mention it in the petition), although he does appear to have sued the city's law division after the city police chief denied him.

 

Cheeseman's petition cites the 2A. Ciolek's petition cites the 2A and 14A.

 

Cheeseman has representation. Ciolek is pro se.

 

Cheeseman has an amicus brief in his favor (which to me seems to make his case better than his representation did) and another favorable amicus brief pending. Ciolek has none.

 

They're both challenging the state's exclusion of general self defense from "justifiable need."

 

If there's a vehicle problem, it's because they seem to have taken different paths to a petition. I guess we'll find out Oct 7.

Different paths does not present a vehicle problem. Also, there will be an Orders list released on October 1st with the fate of many of the cert petitions from the "Long Conference" which is held just prior to the October 1st conference. Theoretically, we could get a grant of a 2A case which was heard in conference last term, or cert stage briefing completed but not scheduled for the October 1st (or later conference), such as Rogers (a New Jersey handgun "carry" case).

 

If these cases are instead denied then we won't have to hold our breath for the Orders List from the October 1st conference to be published. The 2A and 2A/4A cases will fall like a house of cards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New Jersey finally filed its waiver in Cheeseman, two weeks late. And now we wait and see if SCOTUS requests a response.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

New Jersey finally filed its waiver in Cheeseman, two weeks late. And now we wait and see if SCOTUS requests a response.

Wow, and what an awesome submission it is, too. It looks like they dug up some form from the 1970s, filled it in with a manual typewriter, and FAXed it.

 

The waiver form is provided by the Supreme Court -> https://www.supremecourt.gov/casehand/waiver.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be shocked if Scotus DIDN'T request a response.

Why? The justices are unlikely to even read the cert petition, let alone a Brief In Opposition. The justices might read the memos prepared by the SCOTUS clerks and request a response but unless that happens, the fate of the Cheeseman cert petition lies in the hands of the SCOTUS clerks.

 

Justices Alito and Gorsuch say they read all 8,000 to 10,000 cert petitions filed each year. I won't question their word but I will question just how carefully a justice can read that many cert petitions in addition to everything else a justice does.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I would be shocked if Scotus DIDN'T request a response.

Why? The justices are unlikely to even read the cert petition, let alone a Brief In Opposition. The justices might read the memos prepared by the SCOTUS clerks and request a response but unless that happens, the fate of the Cheeseman cert petition lies in the hands of the SCOTUS clerks.

 

Justices Alito and Gorsuch say they read all 8,000 to 10,000 cert petitions filed each year. I won't question their word but I will question just how carefully a justice can read that many cert petitions in addition to everything else a justice does.

 

SCOTUS has almost always requested a response in 2A cases except the in the most far reaching longshot of cases. The recent crop of cases (maybe the last 6 months or so) have all been held by SCOTUS except an NFA case. Since this is almost a copycat of the Rogers case (being held), and a response was requested in the NJ pro se carry case, SCOTUS requesting a response here is almost a sure bet to me.

Whether the justices actually read it, that's a different matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every 2A cert petition and not just the (two) NFA cases has been denied since McDonald with the exception of Caetano and NYSRPA regardless of whether or not the cert petitions were long shots. Attached is a non-exhaustive list of seven cert petitions denied from this last term where a waiver was filed and SCOTUS did not request a response. Two, from California and Illinois, were straight up and down concealed carry cases. SCOTUS denied twice as many (or more) that I know of where a response was requested, including Rothery (out of California) which, at the time, was the oldest "carry" case left standing (filed a decade ago on 8/252009).

 

The Supreme Court is a place where the justices do not use email or computers. Messages between the justices are written down and passed by hand from one justice to another via their clerks. The Clerks write brief memos for the justices to read instead of the cert petitions with a grant/deny recommendation. A clerk's memo recommending a "grant" might be enough for the justices to read the memo. I suspect the other 8-10k memos with "deny" recommendations aren't read by the justices any more than are the cert petitions.

 

Being a "copycat" case is irrelevant, doubly so if nobody in the hallowed halls of SCOTUS notices it is a copycat case.

 

John Cassidy, Petitioner v. Massachusetts - Felony convictions for in-home possession of firearms legal in Texas but not Massachusetts.
Donte Timothy Bacon, Petitioner v. United States - Obliterated serial number on a handgun.
Christos Koutentis, Petitioner v. New York City Police Department, Licensing Division - Handgun license revocation.
Eduardo Salgado, Petitioner v. California - Concealed carry.
Kevin Wayne Vanover and Meredith Ann Yates, Petitioners v. United States - Drugs and guns.
Michael Albert Focia, Petitioner v. United States - Convicted for dealing in firearms without a federal firearms license, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)(A), and selling firearms to unlicensed residents of states other than his own without having a license to do so, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(5).
Eduardo Gomez, Petitioner v. Illinois - Concealed carry.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

The state responded today.

 

I'd say the state makes two points.

 

NJ has been may-issue for 95 years. It hasn't been found to be unconstitutional before, even though it's been challenged before.

 

Cheeseman asserts that so many people get denied based on no "justifiable" need that the restriction is effectively a ban, but he presents no data to support that assertion.

 

(Disclaimer: I only state their points, not advocate for them.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The state responded today.I'd say the state makes two points.NJ has been may-issue for 95 years. It hasn't been found to be unconstitutional before, even though it's been challenged before.Cheeseman asserts that so many people get denied based on no "justifiable" need that the restriction is effectively a ban, but he presents no data to support that assertion.(Disclaimer: I only state their points, not advocate for them.)

 

Like usual, they argue as if Heller and McDonald never existed. Heller had stated that long-standing regulations are not presumptively unconstitutional. If you get your claim past the trial court and into the appeals system I believe that the presumptively lawful barrier has been breached.

 

 

^ this ***

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Cheeseman replied to NJ's response.

 

Cheeseman asserts that the permit rate of 0.012% when compared to other states is sufficient to demonstrate an effective ban. (FYI, it's about 2.3% for Illinois, which is also low compared to other states. I seem to recall seeing that it's about 6% nationwide, although permitless-carry states can be difficult to assess.)

 

Cheeseman reasserts that there is a split among lower courts whether the right "to bear" arms exists (e.g., our own CA7 Moore), is limited, or is non-existent. This case provides an opportunity to rule on it.

 

The reply seems to me to gain a little more traction in its arguments than the original petition had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheeseman replied to NJ's response.

 

 

The reply seems to me to gain a little more traction in its arguments than the original petition had.

 

I noticed that. Unfortunately, the conservatives on the court don't care what the Reply Brief says if the cert petition is defective. A reply brief could make an absolutely brilliant argument as to why the cert petition should be granted but if that argument is absent from the Petition then D.O.A.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Then what was the point of even doing one?

The point of a Reply Brief is to counter the arguments made by the Respondents in their Answering Brief (Brief In Opposition). The Reply brief is not the place to correct the errors made in the cert petition.

 

A better question to ask is why the lion's share of cert petitions are filed which do not comply with SCOTUS Rule 10. The petitions do not argue that there is a split for SCOTUS to resolve neither do they argue that the question presented is one of national importance. Instead, the petitions consist solely or arguing that the lower court decision was wrong.

 

The Supreme Court Does Not Correct the Errors of the Lower Courts (Justice Kagan) - https://youtu.be/tmUqj1CWRHQ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay -- the purpose is to counter, but if they are ignored -- what is the point?

The point of a Reply Brief is to have the last word. Reply briefs aren't exactly ignored given that most cert petitions are going to be denied without there having been a reply brief (or even BIO) filed. One can't "ignore" what was never filed. If a cert petition is fortunate enough to have a response requested by SCOTUS then the justices are likely to be curious as to what one says about the arguments made by the opposition in the BIO. If those arguments aren't countered then the justices will likely assume that what the BIO says is true.

 

None of this changes the fact that if one blows his cert petition then, as far as the conservatives on the court are concerned, the petition is D.O.A.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay -- the purpose is to counter, but if they are ignored -- what is the point?

Here is the short version of the purpose of a Reply Brief from SCOTUS Rule 15, "Any petitioner may file a reply brief addressed to new points raised in the brief in opposition..."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe that Mr. Nichols overstates the limitations of SCOTUS Rule 10 where he states that the Rule requires that the petitioner argue that there is a split for SCOTUS to resolve or that the question presented is one of national importance. Rule 10 actually only requires "compelling reasons". Rule 10 does give examples of compelling reasons and a conflict between circuits or between state and federal courts is one type of compelling reason along with some other examples of compelling reasons. As the Court notes, the examples are neither controlling or fully measuring of the Court's discretion of granting cert. In every case, the petitioner must develop the compelling reasons why cert should be granted and as the percentages show, that is vrey difficult.

 

Rule 10. p. 6: https://www.supremecourt.gov/ctrules/2019RulesoftheCourt.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe that Mr. Nichols overstates the limitations of SCOTUS Rule 10 where he states that the Rule requires that the petitioner argue that there is a split for SCOTUS to resolve or that the question presented is one of national importance. Rule 10 actually only requires "compelling reasons". Rule 10 does give examples of compelling reasons and a conflict between circuits or between state and federal courts is one type of compelling reason along with some other examples of compelling reasons. As the Court notes, the examples are neither controlling or fully measuring of the Court's discretion of granting cert. In every case, the petitioner must develop the compelling reasons why cert should be granted and as the percentages show, that is vrey difficult.

 

Rule 10. p. 6: https://www.supremecourt.gov/ctrules/2019RulesoftheCourt.pdf

That's what happens when you base your beliefs on what you want to believe instead of the facts. You could have done a web search on what the justices have said on what they consider when granting cert. Years ago, Justice Ginsburg had said she was shocked that (60%?) of cert petitions do not comply with SCOTUS Rule 10 and recently, Justice Kagan said it ain't the courts job to correct the errors of the lower courts (also stated in SCOTUS Rule 10). "For sure we're not an error correction court." - Justice Kagan.

Given that this topic frequently comes up, I created an excerpt from Justice Kagan's recent interview and posted it on my YouTube channel last week. https://youtu.be/tmUqj1CWRHQ
I suspect that you are one of those people who claim that Justice Scalia wrote in his decision in District of Columbia v. Heller that either concealed carry is a right and/or states can ban Open Carry in favor of concealed carry. If so, here is an excerpt from Justice Scalia reading from the Heller decision on the day it was announced. Posted in January of this year at my YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/hmrfyYBdA-E
However, I do credit you for posting a link to the SCOTUS Rules even though you did not understand what the Rule says.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...