A writ of certiorari has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, requesting the high court review DeCoster v. United States. The government has until Feb. 15 to respond the writ.
Appellate attorney Peter D. Keisler asks in the writ that the Supreme Court consider the case because a ruling by the 8th U.S. District …
Justice Samuel Alito has extended the filing deadline for a petition for a writ of certiorari in the appeal of jail sentences for one-time egg producers Austin (Jack) DeCoster and his son Peter DeCoster.
Alito set Jan. 10, 2017, as the new deadline for the DeCoster’s attorney, Peter D. Keisler, to file the writ with…
A timely petition for certiorari is going to keep Austin “Jack” DeCoster, 82, and his son, Peter DeCoster, 52, out of jail, at least for several more months while the U.S. Supreme Court decides if it is interested in their case.
The high court is being asked to decide if a corporate official without specific…
Government attorneys who just days ago were on the verge of sending Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter DeCoster to federal prison have now agreed the egg men should remain free long enough to allow the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. 
On behalf of the DeCosters, Peter D. Keisler, the former acting…
A federal appeals court decision that upheld jail sentences for two men whose eggs caused a huge Salmonella outbreak is in conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Park Doctrine, every prior decision applying the doctrine, and every prior appellate opinion on whether Due Process allows prison sentences for vicarious liability crimes, according to the egg…
When he sentenced a father and son to three months each, the federal judge in a criminal trial about an egg-related Salmonella outbreak said he was imposing the jail time unless someone could tell him federal law specifically prohibited him from doing so. 
With a 2-1 vote made public Wednesday, a federal appeals panel said…
Two of three judges hearing appeals of the jail sentences handed down to Austin “Jack” DeCoster and Peter DeCoster sounded uncomfortable yesterday with the concept of sending corporate officials to prison for a so-called strict liability case. Lawyers were left arguing whether “this case is that case” or whether, as Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis has received the final reply brief filed on behalf of Austin (Jack) DeCoster and his son, Peter DeCoster, by their legal team led by Peter D. Keisler. Keisler and his colleagues from the prominent Washington, D.C., law firm of Sidley Austin LLP, are…
Sending food industry executives to jail for company food safety violations, even if they did not know about them, might seem a useful way to bring about more compliance, but corporate America is rising up to strike down the practice. Amicus briefs are pouring in from industry groups to support the appeal to the St.…
As part of a campaign to keep their clients from serving any prison time, appellate attorneys for Austin (“Jack”) and Peter DeCoster are depicting the roles the former egg producers played in the 2010 Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak as marked by corporate responsibility and cooperation. The picture being painted stands in sharp contrast with the media…
Whether Austin “Jack” and Peter DeCoster can be jailed under Park Doctrine prosecutions — meaning where the government did not have to show they had any knowledge or intent, let alone negligence, regarding food safety infractions involving their businesses — will get a big test starting Monday in St. Louis. The opening briefs from the…
