> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.fdaweb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Supreme Court Won’t Hear Park Doctrine Appeal
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/supreme-court-wont-hear-park-doctrine-appeal/
- Published: 2017-05-23T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:25:18.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5138759

The Supreme Court has declined to hear an [appeal](https://www.fdaweb.com/split-8th-circuit-panel-upholds-park-case-ruling/) filed by **Jack** and **Peter DeCoster** over their three-month prison sentences under the *Park* doctrine’s responsible corporate officer provisions. The jail term had been upheld by a 2-1 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, attorney **Jennifer Thomas** (Hyman, Phelps & McNamara) [writes](http://www.fdalawblog.net/fda%5Flaw%5Fblog%5Fhyman%5Fphelps/2017/05/the-supreme-court-refuses-to-hear-park-doctrine-case.html?ref=fdaweb.com) in an online *FDA Law Blog* post. The DeCosters’ legal problems began with a 2010 salmonella outbreak.

Thomas says that a supervisory liability conviction may justify a penalty of imprisonment without violating due process only where “blameworthiness” exists, either inherent in the offense or based on case-specific findings of fact. “Even if the *Park* doctrine itself does not implicate blameworthiness,” she writes, “the facts of the DeCosters’ case demonstrate that pleading guilty to a *Park* offense without admitting knowledge or negligence does not preclude the sentencing judge from going on to find facts that support scienter” (knowledge that an act is wrong before committing the act).

She says that attorney general **Jeff Sessions** continues to favor aggressive prosecution and sentencing of strict liability offenses. Given the importance of individual responsibility to the Justice Department, she says, and the unsettled nature of the 8th Circuit’s ruling, it would not be surprising to see another case testing *Park* limits.