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Silver v. United States

Petition for certiorari denied on January 25, 2021

Docket No. Op. Below Argument Opinion Vote Author Term
20-60 2nd Cir. N/A N/A N/A N/A OT 2020

Issue: Whether a public official can be convicted of bribery absent proof of an agreed exchange with the alleged bribe payor, based solely on his unexpressed, unilateral state of mind when receiving a benefit; (2) whether a conviction for Hobbs Act extortion can be based on a theory of simple bribery; and (3) whether, if the government elects not to argue harmless error, a court of appeals may raise harmless error sua sponte, without providing the defendant any opportunity to be heard on the issue.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

DateProceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
07/20/2020Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 24, 2020)
08/10/2020Waiver of right of respondent United States, et al. to respond filed.
08/26/2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
08/27/2020Response Requested. (Due September 28, 2020)
09/23/2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 28, 2020 to October 28, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
09/24/2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 28, 2020.
10/26/2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 28, 2020 to October 30, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
10/28/2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including October 30, 2020.
10/30/2020Brief of respondents United States, et al. in opposition filed.
11/16/2020Reply of petitioner Sheldon Silver filed. (Distributed)
11/17/2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/4/2020.
12/07/2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/11/2020.
01/04/2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/8/2021.
01/11/2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/15/2021.
01/19/2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/22/2021.
01/25/2021Petition DENIED. Justice Gorsuch, with whom Justice Thomas joins, dissenting from denial of certiorari. (Detached Opinion)