Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

When Supreme Court Resolves Circuit Split, Its Holding May Be Retroactively Applied Because It Was Reasonably Foreseeable

United States v. Jones, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151102 (W.D. Tex Aug. 15, 2011):

The Supreme Court has held that where circuits are split on an issue of law and the Supreme Court subsequently resolves the split, the newly articulated law may be applied retroactively because the potential for review is reasonably foreseeable.

Footnote 30. United States v. Rodgers, 466 U.S. 475, 484 (1984) ("Any argument by respondent against retroactive application to him of our present decision, even if he could establish reliance on the earlier Friedman decision, would be unavailing since the existence of conflicting cases from other Courts of Appeals made review of that issue by this Court and decision against the position of the respondent reasonably fore-seeable.").

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