I was quite dissatisfied with the decision granted by the US Court of Appeals and my attorney and I decided to go ahead and file a petition for writ for certiorari with the Supreme Court.
I obtained the specific office supplies like papers and
covers for the petition from Supreme Court Paper and my attorney prepared the
requisite content for the petition. The required number of petition copies was
filed with the Supreme Court, the docket fees paid and we were awaiting the
appellate court’s judgment.
I was quite hoping that the Supreme Court would consent to
review the lower court’s judgment once again. However, I was aware that the
odds were stacked against me as just a handful of the thousands of petition of certiorari are granted by
the Supreme Court. In fact, of the more than 7000 petitions for writ of
certiorari that is filed with the Supreme Court every year, only about 100 or
so are granted and added to the court’s docket!
Indeed, while petitioners have a right to request a writ for certiorari, the final decision
depends on judicial discretion alone. The reasons should be compelling enough
for the Supreme Court to spare its valuable time and review the case once
again!
Following is a look at certain criteria that the court
follows when deciding to grant or deny the petition:
- The case is of gravity and national significance, involving principles of wide public or governmental interest.
- It raises particularly significant questions of law.
- It reveals a division of authority over the legal questions – such as the lower court pronouncing a decision that directly conflicts with the relevant decision of the court of appeals, state court of last resort or the Supreme Court itself (for federal questions or interpretation of constitutional law only).
- The lower court has violated the usual course of judicial proceedings.
- As a rule, the Supreme Court rarely, if ever, grants a petition solely based on suspected factual errors in the findings of a lower court or the misapplication of a properly stated rule of law.
The above criteria are not a rule and the court may deem to
grant cases that do not make this cut. Alternatively, a ‘compelling’ case may
still fail to be granted certiorari.
In sum, the Supreme Court will choose to exercise its
appellate power primarily when it is in the public interest to establish a
nationally uniform understanding over the legal questions that have been raised
by the case in question or could have precedential value.
Coming back to my case, I do understand what makes a petition of certiorari worthy ofcertiorari and I do not want to unnecessarily burden the highest court of
justice or waste its time. However, my fingers are still crossed and I am
praying that my case makes the cut!
If you wish to add further to the above criteria for
granting a petition for writ of certiorari, please mention in the comments
section below.
