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Becerra v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore

Dismissed pursuant to Rule 46.1 on May 17, 2021. Justices Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch would deny the stipulations to dismiss.

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Docket No. Op. Below Argument Opinion Vote Author Term
20-454 4th Cir. N/A N/A N/A N/A OT 2021

Issue: (1) Whether the Department of Health and Human Services' rule, which prohibits Title X projects from providing referrals for abortion as a method of family planning, falls within the agency"s statutory authority; and (2) whether the rule is the product of reasoned decisionmaking.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

DateProceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
10/07/2020Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 9, 2020)
10/30/2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 9, 2020 to December 9, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
11/02/2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 9, 2020.
11/03/2020Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Alex M. Azar, et al.
11/03/2020Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Mayor and City Council of Baltimore
11/09/2020Brief amici curiae of American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists, et al. filed.
12/05/2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 9, 2020 to February 5, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
12/07/2020Petitioners response to motion for further extension of time to file a response filed.
12/08/2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted in part; the time is further extended to and including December 14, 2020.
12/08/2020Letter waiving the 14-day waiting period for the distribution of the petition for a writ of certiorari pursuant to Rule 15.5. filed.
12/14/2020Brief of respondent Mayor and City Council of Baltimore in opposition filed.
12/23/2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/8/2021.
12/23/2020Reply of petitioners Alex M. Azar, et al. filed. (Distributed)
01/19/2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/22/2021.
02/12/2021DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/19/2021.
02/22/2021Petition GRANTED. The petitions for writs of certiorari in Nos. 20-429 and 20-539 are granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
02/22/2021Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 20-429. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 20-429. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
03/12/2021Joint stipulation to dismiss the case pursuant to Rule 46.1 filed.
05/17/2021The Government has filed a letter brief representing that it will continue enforcing the challenged rule and regulations outside the State of Maryland for as long as they remain operative. If further litigation is brought against the challenged rule and regulations outside of Maryland, the Government represents that it will either oppose that litigation on threshold grounds or seek to hold the litigation in abeyance pending the completion of notice and comment. In light of the Government’s representations, the motions for leave to intervene are denied, and the petitions in Nos. 20-429, 20-454, and 20-539 are dismissed pursuant to Rule 46.1. If the Government fails to enforce the challenged rule and regulations outside of Maryland prior to the completion of notice and comment, or if litigation is brought against the challenged rule and regulations outside of Maryland, any aggrieved party may file an application in this Court after seeking relief in the appropriate District Court and Court of Appeals. Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, and Justice Gorsuch would grant the motions for leave to intervene and deny the stipulations to dismiss the petitions.