Brief filed: 09/20/2024
Documents
Briscoe v. United States
United States Supreme Court; Case No. 24-284
Argument(s)
At the government’s urging, the court of appeals adopted below a dangerous interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a). Under that statute, the government cannot prosecute an individual “unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted” within five years of the offense. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires an indictment to prosecute a felony offense. Rule 7 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure implements the Fifth Amendment’s indictment guarantee by authorizing prosecution by information in felony cases only with the defendant’s consent. Notwithstanding these undisputed principles, the Fourth Circuit held below that the government “institute[s]” an information, and thus satisfies the statute of limitations, merely by filing on the docket an information signed by a prosecutor, even without the defendant’s consent. The Court should grant certiorari and reverse that deeply misguided decision.
Author(s)
Jeffrey T. Green, NACDL Amicus Committee Co-Chair, Washington, DC; Amy Mason Saharia, Williams & Connolly LLP, Washington, DC
