City of Hays v. Vogt
Headline: A city's appeal against an individual was left unresolved when the Court dismissed its own review, saying it should not have taken the case, and left the lower-court decision in place for the City of Hays and Matthew Vogt.
Holding: The writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted, leaving the lower court ruling in place.
- Leaves the Tenth Circuit’s decision in place between the parties.
- Supreme Court declined to resolve the underlying legal issues on the merits.
- Justice Gorsuch did not participate in consideration or decision.
Summary
Background
The dispute involved the City of Hays, Kansas, and a private individual, Matthew Jack Dwight Vogt. The case arrived at the Supreme Court after review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The Supreme Court issued a per curiam (unsigned) slip opinion on May 29, 2018, and concluded the short order with "It is so ordered." The slip opinion includes a notice asking readers to notify the Reporter of Decisions about typographical or formal errors before the preliminary print.
Reasoning
The central practical question before the Justices was whether to proceed with Supreme Court review. The Court issued a brief per curiam order that dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted and did not provide a full written opinion resolving the legal issues. No written reasons accompany the order. By dismissing the Court’s review, the Justices declined to decide the merits of the dispute in this case and did not announce new nationwide legal rules in this order.
Real world impact
Because the Supreme Court dismissed its review, the Tenth Circuit’s ruling remains in effect between these parties. The per curiam dismissal leaves the underlying legal questions unresolved at the national level and does not create Supreme Court precedent. Justice Gorsuch took no part in the consideration or decision, as the opinion states. Parties and lower courts must look to the Tenth Circuit’s decision and future cases for guidance until the Supreme Court decides the issues on the merits in another case.
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