Public policy made simple. Dive into our information hub today!

Olivier v. City of Brandon, Mississippi

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Supreme Court of the United States
Olivier v. City of Brandon, Mississippi
Docket number: 24-993
Term: 2025
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
Argued: December 3, 2025
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts • Clarence Thomas • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Neil Gorsuch • Brett Kavanaugh • Amy Coney Barrett • Ketanji Brown Jackson

Olivier v. City of Brandon, Mississippi is a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on December 3, 2025, during the court's October 2025-2026 term.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The issue: The case concerns the 1994 Supreme Court case Heck v. Humphrey. Click here to learn more about the case's background.
  • The questions presented: "1. Whether, as the Fifth Circuit holds in conflict with the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, this Court's decision in Heck v. Humphrey bars § 1983 claims seeking purely prospective relief where the plaintiff has been punished before under the law challenged as unconstitutional.

    2. Whether, as the Fifth Circuit and at least four others hold in conflict with five other circuits, Heck v. Humphrey bars § 1983 claims by plaintiffs even where they never had access to federal habeas relief. "[1]

  • The outcome: The appeal is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.


    • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. To review the lower court's opinion, click here.

    Background

    Case summary

    The following are the parties to this case:[2]

    • Petitioner: Gabriel Olivier
      • Legal counsel: Allyson Ho (Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP)
    • Respondent: City of Brandon, Mississippi
      • Legal counsel: Gregory Todd Butler (Phelps Dunbar LLP)

    The following summary of the case was published by Oyez, a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and the Chicago-Kent College of Law:[3]

    “

    Gabriel Olivier was an evangelical Christian who regularly preached in public using signs and loudspeakers to convey religious messages. Between 2018 and 2019, he evangelized several times outside the Brandon Amphitheater, a city-owned venue in Brandon, Mississippi. In 2019, the city enacted an ordinance requiring protestors during live events to remain in a designated protest area, restricting use of loudspeakers and prohibiting non-handheld signs. In May 2021, Olivier returned to the Amphitheater during a concert to preach and was ordered by the police chief to move to the protest area. After briefly complying, Olivier returned to a more populated area, resulting in a citation for violating the ordinance. He pleaded no contest in municipal court, paid a fine, and did not appeal the conviction.

    Olivier then filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, seeking damages and an injunction to prevent future enforcement of the ordinance, arguing it violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The district court held that his claims were barred by the doctrine established in Heck v. Humphrey because success on them would necessarily imply the invalidity of his still-standing conviction. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed, modifying the dismissal to be with prejudice only until the conditions set by Heck were met.[4]

    		”

    To learn more about this case, see the following:

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:

    • December 3, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument.
    • July 3, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
    • January 15, 2025: Gabriel Olivier appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • August 25, 2023: The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi’s dismissal of Gabriel Olivier’s claims.

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[1]

    Questions presented:
    “ 1. Whether, as the Fifth Circuit holds in conflict with the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, this Court's decision in Heck v. Humphrey bars § 1983 claims seeking purely prospective relief where the plaintiff has been punished before under the law challenged as unconstitutional.

    2. Whether, as the Fifth Circuit and at least four others hold in conflict with five other circuits, Heck v. Humphrey bars § 1983 claims by plaintiffs even where they never had access to federal habeas relief. [4]

    		”

    Oral argument

    Audio

    Audio of oral argument:[5]



    Transcript

    Transcript of oral argument:[6]

    Outcome

    The case is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    October term 2025-2026

    See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 6, 2025. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions by mid-June.[7]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "24-993 OLIVIER V. CITY OF BRANDON, MISSISSIPPI QP", July 3, 2025
    2. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "No. 24-993 Olivier v. City of Brandon, Mississippi" accessed December 10, 2025
    3. ↑ Oyez, "Olivier v. City of Brandon, Mississippi", accessed December 10, 2025
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    5. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Audio," argued December 3, 2025
    6. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Transcript," argued December 3, 2025
    7. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload," accessed January 24, 2022
    Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Olivier_v._City_of_Brandon,_Mississippi&oldid=10760208"