In September 2008, Davis Polk prepared and filed, on a pro bono basis, an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the New York University Law School Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, urging the Court to grant certiorari. On November 14, 2008, the Court granted the petition. The petitioner in Abuelhawa v. United States had been convicted of a felony under the “communication facility” provision of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 for using his cell phone to purchase drugs for personal use. The Fourth Circuit affirmed the petitioner’s conviction, and in its amicus brief, Davis Polk argued that the Fourth Circuit’s reading of the statute was contrary to both legislative intent and statutory history.
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