The Supreme Court is holding its so-called long conference Monday, when the justices privately consider appeals to take up for their next term, which starts Oct. 6. One of the hopeful petitions comes from Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted Jeffrey Epstein associate who wants the high court to reverse her sex trafficking conviction and 20-year sentence.
While it doesn’t present the most pressing legal issue, Maxwell’s petition puts the justices in the middle of the political controversy surrounding Epstein — and President Donald Trump’s relationship with the late disgraced financier — which the Trump administration hasn’t been able to shake.
Here’s what to know about Maxwell’s petition and its implications.
What’s the issue?
Maxwell argues she was unfairly charged in New York, citing Epstein’s notorious non-prosecution agreement in Florida that said, in part, that “the United States also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein.”
Her lawyers present the issue as one that requires the justices to resolve a split among the nation’s appellate courts regarding whether a promise on behalf of the “United States” or the “Government” that’s made by a U.S. attorney in one district binds federal prosecutors in other districts.
As a general matter, one of the reasons the justices will take an appeal is when there’s a so-called circuit split to resolve, which is why Maxwell’s lawyers have presented her appeal in this way.
The Trump Justice Department opposed Maxwell’s petition. Among the DOJ’s arguments for denial, it says that while “the United States” could theoretically refer to the entire federal government, the full context of Epstein’s agreement shows the broad term is used as an alternative way to refer to the particular U.S. attorney’s office making the agreement.
What happens if the court grants review?
The parties would then file another round of briefs, and the court would set a hearing date later in the term, at which lawyers for Maxwell and the DOJ would argue before the justices in Washington. Then the court would issue a written decision, likely by early July, when the term’s decisions are typically finalized.
Even if the court takes the case, that doesn’t necessarily mean it would side with Maxwell in the end. It would just mean the court is considering the issue raised by her appeal, though she would hope that such review is a first step in her favor that ends with a favorable ruling.
What if the court denies review?
That would effectively uphold the appeals court ruling against Maxwell, though her legal team has suggested that she has additional litigation to bring. She has also been angling for clemency from the president, and she was moved to a minimum-security facility after she had an unusual meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (a former Trump personal lawyer), during which the convicted sex offender said she never saw Trump do anything “inappropriate.”
How many of the nine justices does it take to grant review of an appeal?
Four.
Will they take this case?
Probably not. Most petitions are denied, and Maxwell’s doesn’t present an issue that screams out for review.
To be sure, it wouldn’t be an absurd issue for the court to take. Putting aside the political backstory that brings the issue to the court, it could be good to have nationwide legal clarity on how to interpret such agreements. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers thinks so; it filed an amicus brief urging the justices to grant review and “resolve the split among the circuits and ensure that defendants and their counsel can rely on the promises made by the United States in its written agreements.”
Another possible factor working against Maxwell is that, in a hypothetical scenario in which at least four justices are interested in the legal issue she presents, they might still prefer to stay out of it due to the whole Epstein backdrop.
When will we find out?
There’s no set timeline for the justices to decide. For one thing, they sometimes consider petitions over the course of multiple conferences before deciding whether to grant or deny review. But we might hear about new cases the court is taking later in the week, and we could learn whether the petition is denied when the court publishes a list of actions taken in pending appeals when the new term starts Oct. 6.
Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for expert analysis on the top legal stories of the week, including updates from the Supreme Court and developments in the Trump administration’s legal cases.
