Brunson Case Supreme Court Update: What Happened, Who Was Involved, and Where the Cases Stand

The Brunson case Supreme Court story became much bigger online than it ever became inside a courtroom.
The lawsuits were real. The petitions were real. The defendants were real too. But the Supreme Court did not issue a
ruling that overturned the 2020 election, removed federal officials, or reopened the certification process.

Quick answer: Raland J. Brunson’s Supreme Court petition in Brunson v. Adams, No. 22-380,
was denied on January 9, 2023. His rehearing request was denied on February 21, 2023. A separate petition filed by
Loy Arlan Brunson, No. 22-1028, was denied on June 26, 2023, and rehearing was denied on August 21, 2023. A later
Raland Brunson case against three Supreme Court justices also ended after certiorari and rehearing were denied in
2024.¹⁴⁷

Why the Brunson Case Became So Well Known

The Brunson lawsuits had almost everything needed to become a major online story. They involved the 2020 presidential
election. They named hundreds of government officials. They included arguments about constitutional oaths, election
integrity, accountability, national security, and alleged foreign interference.

Then came the biggest word in American law: Supreme Court.

Once people saw that a Brunson petition had a Supreme Court docket number, the story took on another life.
A petition became “a case the Court was hearing.” A private conference became “a historic hearing.”
A rehearing request became “the case is back.”

But those things are not the same.

A petition for a writ of certiorari is a request asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling. The Court is
not required to accept that request. In fact, the Court turns down most petitions it receives.³

That distinction is the key to understanding the Brunson case Supreme Court story. The petitions reached the Court.
The justices considered whether to review them. The Court declined.

Brunson Case Supreme Court Timeline

• October 6, 2022: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of
  Raland Brunson’s federal lawsuit.²
• October 24, 2022: Raland Brunson’s Supreme Court petition was docketed as No. 22-380.¹
• January 9, 2023: The Supreme Court denied Raland Brunson’s petition for a writ of certiorari.¹
• February 21, 2023: The Supreme Court denied Raland Brunson’s petition for rehearing.¹
• June 26, 2023: The Supreme Court denied Loy Arlan Brunson’s separate petition, docketed as
  No. 22-1028.⁴
• July 21, 2023: The Tenth Circuit dismissed Loy Brunson’s related appeal for lack of
  prosecution.⁵
• August 21, 2023: The Supreme Court denied Loy Brunson’s rehearing request.⁴
• February 9, 2024: The Tenth Circuit affirmed dismissal of Raland Brunson’s later lawsuit against
  Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.⁶
• May 28 and July 22, 2024: The Supreme Court denied review and later denied rehearing in Raland
  Brunson’s follow-up case, No. 23-1073.⁷

Who Were the Main People in the Brunson Litigation?

Online discussions often use the phrase “the Brunson brothers” as if every person involved filed the exact same
Supreme Court case. The court records are more specific. The two main Supreme Court petitions were filed by
Raland J. Brunson and Loy Arlan Brunson.

Raland J. Brunson

Raland Brunson was the petitioner in Supreme Court docket No. 22-380,
Raland J. Brunson v. Alma S. Adams, et al. He represented himself, meaning he filed the petition without a
law firm appearing as his counsel. He later filed a separate lawsuit against three Supreme Court justices after the
Court denied his original petition.¹⁷

Loy Arlan Brunson

Loy Brunson was the petitioner in Supreme Court docket No. 22-1028. He also represented himself. Outside the
litigation, Utah Republican Party convention results list him as a candidate in the 2022 U.S. Senate race, where he
received 71 delegate votes, or 1.92% of the total.⁴⁹

Rep. Alma S. Adams

Alma S. Adams was the first named respondent in the captions, which is why the cases are often called
Brunson v. Adams. That does not mean the lawsuits focused only on her. The petitions named a large group of
government officials. Adams represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District.⁸¹³

Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson

These three justices were named in Raland Brunson’s later 2024 lawsuit. The official Supreme Court docket states
that they did not participate in considering that petition because they were parties to the proceeding.⁷¹⁰

What Did the Brunson Lawsuits Claim?

The core argument was that federal officials violated their constitutional oaths by moving forward with the
certification of the 2020 presidential election without first investigating allegations of fraud and foreign
interference.

Raland Brunson’s Supreme Court petition identified 388 respondents. The group included members of Congress,
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Vice President Mike Pence, and other federal officials.¹³

The requested relief was not narrow. The petitions asked courts to take extraordinary action against elected
officials and to address what the petitioners described as constitutional failures in the election certification
process.

This is one reason the case caught attention. It was not a normal disagreement over one local election rule, one
ballot, or one administrative decision. It was framed as a challenge to a national process involving hundreds of
defendants.

But courts do not begin by asking whether a claim is dramatic. They begin with a more basic question: does the
plaintiff have the legal right to bring that lawsuit?

The Main Legal Barrier: Standing

The biggest issue in Raland Brunson’s case was standing.

Standing is one of those legal words that sounds complicated until you put it in normal language. Think of it as a
ticket to enter the courtroom.

A person generally cannot sue in federal court just because they believe the government did something wrong. The
plaintiff normally has to show a specific and personal injury, a connection between that injury and the conduct being
challenged, and a realistic possibility that a court can provide a remedy.

The Tenth Circuit explained that Raland Brunson’s claimed injury was not concrete and personal to him in the legal
sense. The court treated it as a broad grievance about government conduct, one shared by citizens generally. That
was not enough to establish standing in federal court.²

The courts did not conduct a full trial that tested every claim about the 2020 election. Raland Brunson’s lawsuit
did not reach that stage. The district court dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed.²

The court also noted that Brunson had not specifically challenged the magistrate judge’s standing analysis in his
district-court objections. That procedural problem mattered too.²

Why a Supreme Court Petition Is Not the Same as a Supreme Court Hearing

A petition for a writ of certiorari is not a ruling. It is not oral argument. It is not a trial. It is a request
asking the Supreme Court to review what happened in a lower court.

The Supreme Court has broad discretion over most petitions. A litigant who loses in a federal court of appeals can
ask the Court to review the case, but the Court does not have to grant that request.³

For Raland Brunson, the Supreme Court docket shows this sequence: petition filed, petition distributed for
conference, petition denied, rehearing petition filed, and rehearing denied.¹

That is the legal history. The docket does not show a grant of review, a scheduled oral argument, or a merits
opinion overturning the election.

The same basic result applies to Loy Brunson. His petition was distributed for conference, denied, and then his
rehearing request was denied later that year.⁴

What Happened in Loy Brunson’s Case?

Loy Brunson’s litigation is often mixed together with Raland Brunson’s case, but they were separate matters.

Loy filed his own Supreme Court petition, No. 22-1028. The Supreme Court docket shows that it was filed in April
2023, distributed for a June conference, and denied on June 26, 2023. A rehearing petition was later denied on
August 21, 2023.⁴

There was also a related appeal in the Tenth Circuit. On July 21, 2023, the court dismissed that appeal for lack of
prosecution. In practical terms, that means the appeal did not move forward because the procedural steps necessary
to keep it active were not completed.⁵

The 2024 Follow-Up Lawsuit Against Supreme Court Justices

The story did not completely end with the denial of Raland Brunson’s first petition.

Raland Brunson later filed a separate lawsuit against Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown
Jackson in their official capacities. The later case grew out of the Court’s refusal to review his original
election-related lawsuit.⁶

The district court dismissed that lawsuit, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed. The appellate court explained that
official-capacity claims against the justices were effectively claims against the United States and were barred by
sovereign immunity.⁶

Raland Brunson asked the Supreme Court to review that decision in No. 23-1073. The Court denied the petition on
May 28, 2024. It denied rehearing on July 22, 2024.⁷

The docket also states that Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson did not participate in considering the petition
because they were parties to that proceeding.⁷

Could a Civil Lawsuit Remove Members of Congress?

The Brunson petitions asked for extraordinary relief involving federal officials. But the Constitution gives each
chamber of Congress its own authority to punish or expel members. Article I, Section 5 states that each House may
punish members for disorderly behavior and may expel a member with a two-thirds vote.¹¹

That does not mean courts never deal with disputes involving officials. Courts do. But it does mean that the
constitutional structure for removing members of Congress is not as simple as filing one civil action and asking a
judge to clear out a large part of the legislative branch.

What the Court Record Says vs. What Viral Posts Often Claimed

Frequently Asked Questions About the Brunson Case Supreme Court Story

Did the Supreme Court hear oral arguments in Brunson v. Adams?

The official dockets for the main Brunson petitions show denials of review. They do not show that the Court granted
review or scheduled oral argument.¹⁴

Did the Brunson case overturn the 2020 presidential election?

No. The Supreme Court did not issue an order in the cited Brunson dockets overturning the election result.¹⁴

Why was Raland Brunson’s original case dismissed?

The lower courts concluded that he lacked standing because the injury he claimed was not concrete and personal to
him in the way federal jurisdiction requires. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal.²

What happened to Loy Brunson’s appeal?

The Tenth Circuit dismissed the related appeal for lack of prosecution on July 21, 2023.⁵

Was there another Brunson case in 2024?

Yes. Raland Brunson filed a later lawsuit against Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson. The Tenth Circuit affirmed
dismissal, and the Supreme Court denied review and rehearing in 2024.⁶⁷

Bottom Line

The Brunson case Supreme Court story was built around real lawsuits, real court filings, real constitutional
arguments, and real public frustration.

But the court record is more limited than the biggest online claims made it sound.

Raland Brunson’s petition was denied. Loy Brunson’s petition was denied. Their rehearing requests were denied.
Raland Brunson’s later lawsuit against three Supreme Court justices was dismissed, affirmed on appeal, and also
denied review by the Supreme Court.

The useful lesson is simple: read the docket, check the dates, and separate a petition from a ruling. A case being
filed can be important. A case reaching the Supreme Court docket can be important too. But neither one means the
Court agreed with the claim or was preparing to change the government overnight.

Sources

1. Supreme Court of the United States.
   
   Docket No. 22-380: Raland J. Brunson v. Alma S. Adams, et al.
   
2. United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
   
   Brunson v. Adams, et al., No. 22-4007, Order and Judgment, October 6, 2022.
   
3. United States Courts.
   
   Appeals and Supreme Court review procedures.
   
4. Supreme Court of the United States.
   
   Docket No. 22-1028: Loy Arlan Brunson v. Alma S. Adams, et al.
   
5. United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
   
   Brunson v. Adams, et al., No. 23-4042, dismissal for lack of prosecution, July 21, 2023.
   
6. United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
   
   Brunson v. Sotomayor, et al., No. 23-4108, Order and Judgment, February 9, 2024.
   
7. Supreme Court of the United States.
   
   Docket No. 23-1073: Raland J. Brunson v. Sonia Sotomayor, et al.
   
8. Office of Congresswoman Alma S. Adams.
   
   Official biography of Rep. Alma S. Adams.
   
9. Utah Republican Party.
   
   2022 Convention Results, U.S. Senate race.
   
10. Supreme Court of the United States.
    
    Biographies of current Supreme Court justices.
    
11. Constitution Annotated, Library of Congress.
    
    Article I, Section 5: congressional authority to punish and expel members.
    
12. United States District Court for the District of Utah.
    
    Loy Arlan Brunson v. Adams, district-court report and recommendation.
    
13. Supreme Court of the United States.
    
    Petition for a Writ of Certiorari filed by Raland J. Brunson in No. 22-380.
    

Editorial note: This article is for general informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be
treated as a substitute for reviewing court records or consulting a qualified attorney.