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Certiorari before judgment

US Supreme Court certiorari without a Court of Appeals decision

US Supreme Court certiorari without a Court of Appeals decision

A petition for certiorari before judgment, in the Supreme Court of the United States, is a petition for a writ of certiorari in which the Supreme Court is asked to immediately review the decision of a United States District Court, without an appeal having been decided by a United States Court of Appeals, for the purpose of expediting the proceedings and obtaining a final decision.

Certiorari before judgment is rarely granted. Supreme Court Rule 11 states that this procedure will be followed "only upon a showing that the case is of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination in this Court."

In some situations, the court has also granted certiorari before judgment so that it could review a case at the same time as a similar case that had already reached the court otherwise.

The power to grant certiorari before judgment is provided by statute, which authorizes the Supreme Court to review "cases in the courts of appeals" by granting certiorari "before or after rendition of judgment or decree". A party to the case may petition to the Supreme Court "at any time before judgment", after a court of appeals has docketed the case. Only cases in a United States court of appeals are eligible, not any other court. Any party can file the petition, regardless of which party originally prevailed in the district court.

Well-known cases in which the Supreme Court has granted certiorari before judgment and heard the case on an expedited basis have included Ex parte Quirin (1942), U.S. v. United Mine Workers (1947), Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), U.S. v. Nixon (1974), Dames & Moore v. Regan (1981), Northern Pipeline Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co. (1982), U.S. v. Booker (2005), Department of Commerce v. New York (2019), and Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson (2021).

List of petitions granted

The Supreme Court granted certiorari before judgment only three times between 1988 and 2004, and zero times from then until February 2019. Since 2019, the court has granted certiorari before judgment in more cases.

CaseDate granted
*Clark v. Roemer*June 28, 1991
*Gratz v. Bollinger*Dec 2, 2002
*United States v. Fanfan*Aug 2, 2004
*Department of Commerce v. New York*Feb 15, 2019
*Trump v. NAACP*18-587}} Docket for No. 18-587, *Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California*], consolidated with *Trump v. NAACP* and *McAleenan v. Vidal*
*McAleenan v. Vidal*June 28, 2019
*Ross v. California*June 28, 2019
*Harvest Rock Church, Inc. v. Newsom*Dec 3, 2020
*High Plains Harvest Church v. Polis*Dec 15, 2020
*Robinson v. Murphy*Dec 15, 2020
*United States v. Higgs*Jan 15, 2021
*Gish v. Newsom*Feb 8, 2021
*Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson*Oct 22, 2021
*United States v. Texas*Oct 22, 2021
*ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd.*Dec 10, 2021
*Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina*Jan 24, 2022
*Merrill v. Caster*Feb 7, 2022
*Ardoin v. Robinson*June 28, 2022
*Brnovich v. Isaacson*June 30, 2022
*United States v. Texas*July 21, 2022
*Biden v. Nebraska*Dec 1, 2022
*Department of Education v. Brown*Dec 12, 2022
*Moyle v. United States*
*Idaho v. United States*Jan 5, 2024
*Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump*Sep 9, 2025
*Trump v. Slaughter*Sep 22, 2025
*Trump v. Barbara*Dec 5, 2025

Notes

References

  • S. Shapiro et al., Supreme Court Practice (BNA Books, 10th ed. 2013), section 2.4

References

  1. [https://www.supremecourt.gov/filingandrules/2023RulesoftheCourt.pdf#page=10 2023 Rules of the Supreme Court]
  2. Shapiro et al., ''Supreme Court Practice'' (11th ed. 2019), Sec. 2.4
  3. {{USCSub. 28. 1254. 1
  4. {{USCSub. 28. 2101. e
  5. Shapiro et al., ''Supreme Court Practice'' (11th ed. 2019), Sec. 6.1(b)(4)
  6. Shapiro et al., ''Supreme Court Practice'' (11th ed. 2019), Sec. 2.2, p. 2-12
  7. {{harvnb. Lindgren. Marshall. 1986
  8. [https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/021519zr_n6io.pdf Order list: 586 U.S. ___, Friday, February 15, 2019]
  9. [https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-463_3ebh.pdf Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson, No. 21-463].
  10. Vladeck, Steve. (January 25, 2022). "The rise of certiorari before judgment". [[SCOTUSblog]].
  11. {{harvnb. Vladeck. 2024
  12. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jf-6mBUJHp0C&pg=PT28 ''Clark v. Roemer'', 501 U.S. 1246 (1991)]
  13. [https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/537/1044/USSC_PRO_537_1044_02-516 ''Gratz v. Bollinger'', 537 U.S. 1044 (2002)]
  14. [https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/542/956/USSC_PRO_542_956_04-105 ''United States v. Fanfan'', 542 U.S. 956 (2004)]
  15. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 18-966 Docket for No. 18-966, ''Department of Commerce v. New York'']
  16. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 18-587 Docket for No. 18-587, ''Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California''], consolidated with ''Trump v. NAACP'' and ''McAleenan v. Vidal''
  17. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 18-1214 Docket for No. 18-1214, ''Ross v. California'']
  18. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 20A94 Docket for No. 20A94, ''Harvest Rock Church, Inc. v. Newsom'']
  19. [https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20a105_p860.pdf ''High Plains Harvest Church v. Polis'', 592 U.S. ___, 141 S.Ct. 527 (2020)]
  20. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 20A95 Docket for No. 20A95, ''Robinson v. Murphy'']
  21. [https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20-927_i42k.pdf ''United States v. Higgs'', 592 U.S. ___, 141 S.Ct. 645 (2021)]
  22. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 20A120 Docket for No. 20A120, ''Gish v. Newsom'']
  23. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 21-463 Docket for No. 21-463, ''Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson'']
  24. [https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a85_5h25.pdf ''United States v. Texas'', 595 U.S. ___, 142 S.Ct. 14 (2021)]
  25. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 21-401 Docket for No. 21-401, ''ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd.'']
  26. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 21-707 Docket for No. 21-707, ''Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina'']
  27. [https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a375_d18f.pdf ''Merrill v. Caster'', 595 U.S. ___, 142 S.Ct. 879 (2022)]
  28. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 21A814 Docket for No. 21A814, ''Ardoin v. Robinson'']
  29. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 21A222 Docket for No. 21A222, ''Brnovich v. Isaacson'']
  30. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 22-58 Docket for No. 22-58, ''United States v. Texas'']
  31. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 22-506 Docket for No. 22-506, ''Biden v. Nebraska'']
  32. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 22-535 Docket for No. 22-535, ''Department of Education v. Brown'']
  33. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 23-726 Docket for No. 23-726, ''Moyle v. United States'']
  34. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 24-1287 Docket for No. 24-1287, ''Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump'']
  35. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 25-332 Docket for No. 25-332, ''Trump v. Slaughter'']
  36. [{{SCOTUS URL Docket. 25-365 Docket for No. 25-365, ''Trump v. Barbara'']
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