SCCOTUS Act
Sponsored By: Representative Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8]
Introduced
Summary
This bill would create a dedicated 13-judge Supreme Court Certification Panel to review petitions for writs of certiorari. It would route all certiorari petitions to a rotating group of circuit judges and set clear rules for grants, denials, stays, and public reporting.
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- Petitioners and litigants: All petitions for writs of certiorari would be reviewed first by the Panel rather than going directly to the Supreme Court. A grant needs the concurrence of 4 Panel members and a granted petition is transmitted to the Supreme Court for docketing and argument.
- Circuit judges: One active judge from each court of appeals would be randomly chosen each Supreme Court term to serve on the 13-member Panel. Members must have at least 5 years of federal judicial service, may not serve consecutive terms, and must follow recusal and judicial ethics rules.
- Court administration and the public: The Administrative Office of the United States Courts would staff the Panel and the Judicial Conference would issue rules for its operation within one year. The Panel would meet monthly with a minimum quorum of 6 judges and publish term-end reports counting petitions reviewed, granted, and denied while protecting confidential deliberations.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
New gatekeeper for Supreme Court petitions
If enacted, the Panel would review every petition asking the Supreme Court to hear a case and could grant or deny those petitions. The Panel could grant only when one or more statutory criteria are met, such as conflicting decisions among appeals courts or important unsettled federal questions; grants before a lower-court judgment would be allowed only for cases of imperative public importance. A grant would require four Panel members and a short written statement identifying the questions for review, and denials would be ordered with a brief statement that the criteria were not met. The Panel could consolidate similar petitions, grant stays like a Supreme Court Justice, and any petition it grants would be sent to the Supreme Court Clerk and treated as granted by the Court.
New Supreme Court review panel
If enacted, this bill would create a 13-judge Supreme Court Certification Panel. One circuit judge from each federal court of appeals would be randomly designated at the start of each term. Designated judges must be active with at least five years of federal judicial service or on a special retired roster, and no judge may serve more than one consecutive term. The Judicial Conference would have one year to write rules, the Panel would meet at least monthly with a six-judge quorum, vacancies must be filled within 90 days, and the Panel must publish a public report at the end of each term. Panel judges would follow the judges’ Code of Conduct and must recuse themselves if they previously worked on the case in a lower court.
Severability to preserve other provisions
If enacted, the bill would say that if one part or its application is held invalid, the rest of the Act and its amendments would remain in force. This would keep other sections and their effects in place even if a court strikes a single provision.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Raskin, Jamie [D-MD-8]
MD • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov