Petitions and applications docketed on December 17, 2025
type Caption Docket No Court Below Petitioner's Counsel Counsel's Address Recent Filings QP
paid Noris Babb

v. Douglas A. Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

25-698 Eleventh Circuit, No. 23-10383

Judgment: June 26, 2025

Joseph D Magri Merkle & Magri, PA

5601 Mariner Street

Suite 400

Tampa, FL 33609

[Petition] [Appendix] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document]
Question(s) presentedQUESTIONS PRESENTED

Federal employees’ rights are determined under statutes which require that “all personnel actions effecting employees or applicants for employment… in executive agencies as defined in Title 5… shall be made free from any discrimination .. .” See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16(a) (“based on” race, color, religion, sex, or national origin) (emphasis added); 29 U.S.C. § 6338a(a) (“based on” age). The language and syntax of these statutes differ from private sector statutes. Babb v. Wilkie, 589 U.S. 399, 409-413 (2020). The questions presented are:

Whether federal District Court jury instructions and decisions on motions for summary judgment must be consistent with Babb uv. Wilkies statutory framework and specifically:

  1. As to summary judgment whether the “shall be made free from any discrimination” permits summary judgment of: (a) federal-sector adverse personnel decisions when a combination of sex and age (1.e., older female) are considered in the process of making those decisions; and (b) damages caused by consideration of EEO activity during the process of making adverse personnel actions.

  2. In jury instructions, failing to instruct the jury on what constitutes differential treatment and failing to instruct on burden shifting to the defendant under LeSage and Mt. Healthy.

1

paid Amaplat Mauritius Ltd.

v. Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation

25-699 District of Columbia Circuit, No. 24-7030

Judgment: July 15, 2025

Steven Keith Davidson Steptoe LLP

1330 Connecticut Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20036

[Main Document] [Petition] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document]
Question(s) presented1 QUESTION PRESENTED

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act allows suit against a foreign sovereign that “has waived its 1m- munity … by implication.” 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1). The Second Circuit has long held that a foreign sover- eign impliedly waives its immunity from a suit seek- ing recognition of a foreign judgment confirming an arbitral award where the sovereign both (1) joins the U.N. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (the “New York Convention”) and (2) agrees to binding arbitration of a dispute in another Convention state. See Seetransport Wiking Trader Schiffarhtsgesellschaft MBH & Co. v. Navimpex Centrala Navala, 989 F.2d 572, 581-5838 (2d Cir. 1993).

In this case, the District of Columbia Circuit ex- plicitly disagreed. App.12a—-13a. As a result, an acknowledged conflict of authority exists between two of the “principal” circuits in which parties seek to en- force arbitral awards against foreign sovereigns. See Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Hemerich & Payne Intern. Drilling Co., 581 U.S. 170, 186 (2017).

The question presented by this Petition 1s:

When a foreign sovereign that is a party to the New York Convention agrees to arbitrate a dispute governed by the Convention, does it impliedly waive immunity from an action in U.S. courts to recognize a valid foreign judgment confirming the arbitral award in another member state. See 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1).

paid Joan V. Bayley

v. United States

25-700 Ninth Circuit, No. 24-812, 24-901, 24-2901, 24-2902

Judgment: July 10, 2025

Grant Joseph Guillot Grant Guillot, LLC

5028 River Meadow Drive

Baton Rouge, LA 70820

[Petition] [Appendix] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count]
Question(s) presented1 QUESTIONS PRESENTED

Petitioners owned a lot with a slowly failing 1937 bulkhead onshore of the shoreline along Hood Canal, Washington state. Hundreds of properties along Hood Canal use bulkheads to control erosion. The lot has had no continuous surface water connection to any body of water since 1937. In August 2017, with state approval arising from the Coastal Zone Management Act, Peti- tioners performed routine maintenance of their 1937 bulkhead. In August 2020, the United States filed a Clean Water Act complaint alleging Petitioners caused environmental injuries that incurred an astounding $323, 134,524 of penalties. In November 2020, the state’s lead agency found the permitted activities were complete, in compliance, and closed its permit. Without any violations under state law, Petitioners received a shoreline variance and permit to build a house on the lot.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the default judgment entered in favor of the United States while disregarding the District Court’s statement, “Although Mr. Bayley obtained approval from Mason County for the project, he took no steps to comply with federal law.” The questions presented are:

  1. Did Congress provide the ultimate remedy to federal overreach by releasing and relinquishing the United States’ complaint for Clean Water Act environ- mental violations due to Petitioners following state authority?

  2. Did the United States waive the allegations raised in its complaint for Clean Water Act environ- mental violations due to its approval of the State of Washington’s environmental program, which resulted

paid Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

v. Board of Trustees of the Bakery Drivers Local 550 and Industry Pension Fund

25-701 Second Circuit, No. 23-7868

Judgment: April 29, 2025

D. John Sauer Solicitor General

United States Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

[Main Document] [Written Request] [Petition] [Main Document] [Main Document]
Question(s) presentedQUESTION PRESENTED

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2, 1385 Stat. 4, established the Special Financial Assistance program to provide funding for certain se- verely underfunded multiemployer pension plans. A plan is eligible for such assistance if, as relevant here, it “is in critical and declining status (within the meaning of [29 U.S.C. 1085(b)(6)]) in any plan year beginning in 2020 through 2022.” 29 U.S.C. 1432(b)(1)(A) (Supp. ITI 2021). Critical and declining status is one of several possible pension-plan “zone statuses” set forth in 29 U.S.C. 1085. Ifa plan terminates as a result of the mass withdrawal of every employer from the plan, Section 1085 ceases to apply to the plan. See 29 U.S.C. 1081(c¢). The question presented is:

Whether a multiemployer pension plan that termi- nated through mass withdrawal before the 2020 plan year is eligible for Special Financial Assistance under 29 U.S.C. 1432(b)(1)(A).

(I)

paid CO2 Committee, Inc.

v. Montezuma County, Colorado

25-702 Tenth Circuit, No. 24-1337

Judgment: July 28, 2025

John M. Cogswell Cogswell Law Offices

P.O. Box 705

Saratoga, WY 82331

[Petition] [Appendix] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count]
Question(s) presented1 QUESTION PRESENTED

The District Court granted the Respondents’ Motion to Dismiss, by facial attack, the Petitioner’s Complaint under Rule 12(b)(1). The material part of the Complaint was to recover money the Respondents (collectively the “County”) took as taxes which the Committee did not owe without notice and in violation of their civil rights.

The District Court 1n its Order relied on allegations of fact in the County’s Motion to Dismiss despite facial attack case law. Some of those allegations were false and material. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s Order and Judgment with little attention to the rule that motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) with facial attack must accept well pled allegations of the complaint as true.

The Question Presented Is:

Because the District Court and the County agreed on the facial attack procedure, should the Tenth Circuit on appeal have reversed the Order of the Dis- trict Court which used in its Order allegations of fact from County’s Motion to Dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1)?

paid Calvary Chapel San Jose

v. California

25-703 Court of Appeal of California, Sixth Appellate District, No. H051860

Judgment: April 15, 2025

Jay Alan Sekulow American Center for Law and Justice

201 Maryland Avenue, N.E.

Washington, DC 20002

[Main Document] [Petition] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document]
Question(s) presented1 QUESTIONS PRESENTED

At issue in this case is the ability of government to referee religious services 1n a house of worship.

Government officials in California imposed COVID rules governing any “business,” which was defined to include churches. These rules — governing such matters as social distancing, masking, and capacity ceilings — contained multiple exemptions, but did not allow Petitioners Calvary Chapel San Jose and Pastor Mike McClure to conduct religious services 1n accord with their religious beliefs. County officials sought injunctive relief and contempt sanctions for the church’s noncompliance (both of which were overturned in prior proceedings), then sought nearly three million dollars in fines. The state courts upheld fines 1n excess of a million dollars. The four questions presented are:

  1. Do COVID restrictions that contain multiple exceptions, exceptions permitting comparable risks of viral transmission, trigger strict scrutiny under Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), because they are not “generally applicable”?

  2. Should this Court hold that the church autonomy doctrine, which provides an exception to Smith, includes not just a “ministerial exception” but also a “liturgical exception”?

  3. If Smith does not require strict scrutiny in this case and does not include a liturgical exception, but instead allows governments to micromanage religious services, should this Court overrule Smith as incompatible with a proper reading of the Free Exercise Clause?

paid Fulton County, Pennsylvania

v. Dominion Voting Systems, Inc.

25-704 Third Circuit, No. 24-2771

Judgment: June 23, 2025

Peter David Ticktin The Ticktin Law Group

270 SW Natura Avenue

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

[Main Document] [Petition] [Appendix] [Certificate of Word Count] [Main Document]
Question(s) presented1 QUESTIONS PRESENTED

Article I, § 4, cl. 1, the “Elections Clause” of the United States Constitution, delegates to the states, the Time, Manner, and Place of conducting national elections. The Pennsylvania Constitution delegates this power to the General Assembly, which has further delegated this power to County Boards of Elections (including the Petitioners). 25 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 2641(a).

County Boards of Elections therefore have authority, inter alia, to purchase voting machines for voting in national elections. 25 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 2642(c). In 2019, the Petitioners signed a contract with Dominion for the provision of voting machines for the November 2020 General Election. The Petitioners filed suit against Dominion for breach of contract, when they discovered that the voting machines were defective and compromised. The District Court summarily dismissed, ruling that the Petitioners lacked standing and their suit had no merit. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed.

I.

Did the District Court err in holding that the Petitioners failed to state a claim for breach of contract on the basis that they did not have standing to sue Dominion, vendors of a product that the Petitioners purchased by contract, where the Petitioners are constitutionally and_ statutorily delegated the authority to contract with vendors for the provision of voting machines to conduct national elections?

ifp Delfon Blair

v. Ohio

25-6391 Supreme Court of Ohio, No. 2025-1052

Judgment: October 22, 2025

Delfon Blair 1 Triangle Park Drive

Cincinnati, OH 45246

[Motion for Leave to Proceed in Forma Pauperis] [Petition] [Appendix]
Question(s) presentedQUESTION(S) PRESENTED , TS the} udgealloweel ro over lok AA's nissal W' Woe 4 Laus to back 48 - Bo
ifp Christopher Tyler Bray

v. Texas

25-6392 Supreme Court of Texas, No. 25-0659

Judgment: September 05, 2025

Christopher Tyler Bray 819 Farnham Rd.

Charleston, SC 29412

[Motion for Leave to Proceed in Forma Pauperis] [Petition] [Appendix]
Question(s) presentedI. Questions Presented

What is the meaning of religion as it concerns the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment, and what are the implications of such?

, How is the court system and entire government supposed to handle, according to their constitutional law, an individual who proffers evidence of his Anointment according to Christian Scripture?

According to compelling interest tests in Free Exercise cases and the solemn oath of the government to serve the better interest of the people, that the people may not understand themselves as is remedied by the mechanisms of a Republic, would it not then be explicitly in the interest of the government to respect the Truth when the Truth has been revealed? ,

ifp Cortez D. Porter

v. United States

25-6393 Fifth Circuit, No. 25-30165, 25-30167

Judgment: September 12, 2025

Cristie Gibbens Office of the Federal Public Defender

102 Versailles Blvd.

Suite 816

Lafayette, LA 70501

[Motion for Leave to Proceed in Forma Pauperis] [Petition] [Appendix] [Main Document]
Question(s) presentedQUESTION PRESENTED Is the lifetime ban on possession of firearms by all felons, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(¢)(1), plainly unconstitutional on its face under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), because it is permanent and applies to all persons convicted of felonies? 2
ifp Joshua Abrams

v. Richard Isolda

25-6394 Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, No. A-0561-23

Judgment: May 01, 2025

Joshua M. Abrams P.O. Box 761

Loveland, CO 80539

[Motion for Leave to Proceed in Forma Pauperis] [Petition] [Appendix] [Main Document]
Question(s) presentedQUESTIONS PRESENTED | 1. Whether immunity doctrines eliminate all remedies for sonsuwiona violations. 2. Whether judicial sanctions imposed as penalties require due process and a jury under the Seventh and Fourteenth Amendments. | 3. Whether mandatory third-party access costs unconstitutionally restrict access to justice. 4. Whether the Constitution requires a functional forum for the redress of grievances. : boa .
ifp In Re Wilfredo Feliciano-Rodriguez 25-6395 NA, No. —

Judgment: —

Wilfredo Feliciano-Rodriguez 24241-069

FCI Yazoo City Low

PO Box 5000

Yazoo City, MS 39194

[Motion for Leave to Proceed in Forma Pauperis] [Petition] [Appendix] [Main Document]
Question(s) presented| c QUESTION(S) PRESENTED | 1. Whether the Court of Appeals violated its constitutional duty by failing to determine : the absence of federal subject-matter jurisdiction after the government omitted its opposition brief and instead filed a motion for summary disposition in Case Nos. 23-1405, 23-1706, and 23-1520, while simultaneously arguing that the District Court possessed federal jurisdiction because Puerto Rico is "a current territory of the United States." 2. Whether the repeated failure of the Lower courts to address the jurisdictional challenge -- despite clear constitutional and statutory mandates -- constitutues an abuse of judicial power warranting the issuance of a writ of mandamus. i
ifp Javier Rivera Franco

v. Texas

25-6396 Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, No. WR-72,017-18

Judgment: October 16, 2025

Javier Rivera Franco 01376945

2661 FM 2054

Tennessee Colony, TX 75884

[Motion for Leave to Proceed in Forma Pauperis] [Petition] [Appendix]
Question(s) presentedQUESTIONS(S) PRESENTED 1. Is Petitioner Franco illegally imprisoned under a invalid 75 year sentence in Indictment / Cause No. F05-45713-T and under a invalid conviction ? : 2. Is Petitioner Franco Innocent of the Charge of Attempted Capital Murder of a Police Officer ? 3. Is it a violation of cruel and unusual punishment to imprison Petitioner Franco with a invalid 75 year sentence in Indictment / Cause No. F05-45713-T that the jury did not orally render and trial court judge did not orally pronounce at all in the record and to imprison Petitioner Franco with a invalid conviction ? 4, Doés it violate a defendant's due process rights for a trial court judge to enter or sign a more sever sentence for a Indictment / Cause Number in the written judgment of conviction by jury that was not orally rendered by the jury and was not orally pronounced by the trial court judge in the defendant, his attorney, and counsel for the state presence in open court? 5. Does it violate a defendant's due process rights and :°7: equal protection of the law and due course of law when a Court of Appeals fails to dismiss the direct appeal for lack of jurisdiction due to the trial court's failure to orally pronou- nce a sentence and a Indictment / Cause Number on the record in the defendant's presence in open court, and there was no valid : conviction for a defendant to even appeal ? 6.. Was Petitioner Franco denied effective assistance of appellant counsel for failure to raise a no sentence and under no valid conviction claim on direct appeal ? | 7. How can the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas have authority to deny and dismiss Petitioner Franco's prematurely filed 11.07 application's under the provision of Article 11.07 Section 4 of. the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure when Petitio» ner Franco's case in Indictment / Cause No. F05-45713-T has no valid sentence on the record, there is no valid conviction, the judgment of conviction is not actually final and the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas never had jurisdiction over the case at all ?

_ ii

app Mark Alan Deakins

v. United States

25A702 Sixth Circuit, No. 24-5223

Judgment: —

Howard Walton Anderson III Law Office of Howard W Anderson III LLC

PO Box 661

Pendleton, SC 29670

[Main Document] [Lower Court Orders/Opinions] [Lower Court Orders/Opinions] NA
app Aila Curtis

v. Bob Ferguson, Governor of Washington

25A703 Ninth Circuit, No. 24-1869

Judgment: —

David J. Schexnaydre Schexnaydre Law Firm

2895 Hwy 190

Suite 212

Mandeville, LA 70471

[Main Document] [Lower Court Orders/Opinions] NA
app E. D., a Minor, By Her Parent and Next Friend, Lisa Duell

v. Noblesville School District

25A704 Seventh Circuit, No. 24-1608

Judgment: —

John J. Bursch Alliance Defending Freedom

440 First Street NW

Suite 600

Washington, DC 20001

[Main Document] NA
app Charles Albert Massey

v. Chadwick Dotson, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections

25A705 Fourth Circuit, No. 24-6006

Judgment: —

Joseph Douglas King King, Campbell, Poretz & Mitchell PLLC

118 N. Alfred Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

[Main Document] [Lower Court Orders/Opinions] NA
app Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama

v. Angelina Emergency Medicine Associates PA

25A706 Fifth Circuit, No. 24-10306

Judgment: —

Catherine Emily Stetson Hogan Lovells US LLP

555 13th Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20004-1109

[Main Document] [Lower Court Orders/Opinions] NA
app Edward C. Brown

v. United States

25A707 Seventh Circuit, No. 24-1581, 24-1582

Judgment: —

Edward C. Brown 19824-026

Federal Correctional Institution Elkton

P.O. Box 10

Lisbon, OH 44432

[Main Document] NA
app CareDx, Inc.

v. Natera, Inc.

25A708 Third Circuit, No. 23-2427, 23-2428

Judgment: —

Edward R. Reines Jones Day

1755 Embarcadero Rd

Palo Alto, CA 94303

[Main Document] [Lower Court Orders/Opinions] NA
app Samuel Lee Smith, Jr.

v. Gus Lopez

25A709 Eleventh Circuit, No. 25-10462

Judgment: —

Samuel Lee Smith Jr. 16614 SW 99 Court

Miami, FL 33157

[Main Document] NA
app Samuel Lee Smith, Jr.

v. Gus Lopez

25A710 Eleventh Circuit, No. 25-10441

Judgment: —

Samuel Lee Smith Jr. 16614 SW 99 Court

Miami, FL 33157

[Main Document] NA
app Dale Sundby, as Trustee

v. Marquee Funding Group, Inc.

25A711 Ninth Circuit, No. 23-55659, 24-865, 24-1027

Judgment: —

Dale Sundby 5282 W. Arid Canyon Dr.

Marana, AZ 85658

[Main Document] NA
app Donald Wayne Read

v. Texas

25A712 Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, No. PD-0622-25

Judgment: —

Donald Wayne Read 02498806

2661 FM 2054

Tennessee Colony, TX 75884

[Main Document] NA