Wooden v. United States

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
20-5279	6th Cir.	Oct 4, 2021	Mar 7, 2022	9-0	Kagan	OT 2021

Holding: William Dale Wooden"s ten burglary offenses arising from a single criminal episode did not occur on different "occasions" and thus count as only one prior conviction under the Armed Career Criminal Act.

Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 9-0, in an opinion by Justice Kagan on March 7, 2022. Justice Kagan delivered the opinion of the court, in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kavanaugh joined, and in which Justices Thomas, Alito, and Barrett joined as to all but Part II-B. Sotomayor filed a concurring opinion. Kavanaugh filed a concurring opinion. Barrett filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Thomas joined. Justice Gorsuch filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Sotomayor joined as to Part II, III, and IV.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

Perhaps defining an occasion is not so difficult after all (Daniel Harawa, March 8, 2022)
Court rejects enhanced sentence under Armed Career Criminal Act for man who broke into storage facility (James Romoser, March 7, 2022)
A hypothetical-filled argument proves how tricky it is to define an occasion (Daniel Harawa, October 5, 2021)
After 19 months, eight justices return to the courtroom (Amy Howe, October 4, 2021)
In-person arguments come out of storage (Mark Walsh, October 4, 2021)
Whats an occasion? Scope of Armed Career Criminal Act depends on the answer. (Daniel Harawa, October 1, 2021)
Cases on Boston Marathon bomber, CIA secrets headline October argument calendar (Amy Howe, July 13, 2021)
Justices add new cases, turn down Pennsylvania election disputes (Amy Howe, February 22, 2021)
Disputes over church property and ACCA ambiguity (John Elwood, February 18, 2021)

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
07/24/2020	Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due September 4, 2020)
08/12/2020	Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
08/27/2020	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
09/22/2020	Response Requested. (Due October 22, 2020)
10/14/2020	Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 22, 2020 to November 23, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
10/15/2020	Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 23, 2020.
11/09/2020	Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 23, 2020 to December 23, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
11/10/2020	Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including December 23, 2020.
12/21/2020	Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
01/06/2021	Reply of petitioner William Dale Wooden filed. (Distributed)
01/07/2021	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/22/2021.
02/12/2021	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/19/2021.
02/22/2021	Motion to proceed in forma pauperis GRANTED. Petition for a writ of certiorari GRANTED limited to Question 2 presented by the petition.
03/05/2021	Joint motion for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
03/22/2021	Joint motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including May 3, 2021. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including June 28, 2021.
05/03/2021	Brief of petitioner William Dale Wooden filed.
05/03/2021	Joint appendix filed (statement of cost filed.)
05/10/2021	Brief amicus curiae of National Association Of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed.
05/10/2021	Brief amicus curiae of Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center filed.
05/10/2021	Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Federal Defenders filed.
05/10/2021	Brief amici curiae of Professors of Criminal Law filed.
05/10/2021	Brief amicus curiae of FAMM filed.
05/10/2021	Brief amicus curiae of Human Rights For Kids filed.
06/28/2021	Brief of respondent United States filed.
07/13/2021	ARGUMENT SET FOR Monday, October 4, 2021.
07/28/2021	Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 6th Circuit.
07/28/2021	Reply of petitioner William Dale Wooden filed.
07/28/2021	Record received from the U.S.C.A. 6th Circuit has been electronically filed.
08/03/2021	CIRCULATED
10/04/2021	Argued. For petitioner: Allon Kedem, Washington, D. C. For respondent: Erica L. Ross, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C.
03/07/2022	Judgment REVERSED. Kagan, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined, and in which Thomas, Alito, and Barrett, JJ., joined as to all but Part II–B. Sotomayor, J., filed a concurring opinion. Kavanaugh, J., filed a concurring opinion. Barrett, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Thomas, J., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Sotomayor, J., joined as to Parts II, III, and IV.
04/08/2022	JUDGMENT ISSUED.