Maxwell argues she was unfairly charged in New York, citing Epstein’s notorious non-prosecution agreement in Florida that said, in part, that “the United States also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein.”

Her lawyers present the issue as one that requires the justices to resolve a split among the nation’s appellate courts regarding whether a promise on behalf of the “United States” or the “Government” that’s made by a U.S. attorney in one district binds federal prosecutors in other districts.

As a general matter, one of the reasons the justices will take an appeal is when there’s a so-called circuit split to resolve, which is why Maxwell’s lawyers have presented her appeal in this way.