What is a statement respecting the denial of certiorari?
Updated
Most cases reach the Supreme Court through a petition for a writ of certiorari, a request that the Court review a lower court's decision. The Court receives thousands of petitions each term and grants only a small fraction of them. By long-standing practice, a petition is granted when at least four Justices vote to hear the case (the "rule of four").
A denial is not a ruling on the merits
When the Court denies a petition, it is declining to hear the case. The Court has long said that a denial expresses no view on whether the lower court decided correctly, and a denial does not create precedent. The lower court's decision simply stands.
Statements and dissents from denial
Usually a denial comes with no explanation. Occasionally one or more Justices write separately: a "statement respecting the denial of certiorari" explains a Justice's view of the case, and a "dissent from the denial of certiorari" argues that the Court should have taken it. Justices also sometimes write about grants and other summary orders.
These writings can be newsworthy, since they often signal issues a Justice wants the Court to take up. But they are individual writings. They are not opinions of the Court and they do not decide the case.
How SCOTUS Alerts labels them
We tag these writings 📜 "Statement on cert" everywhere they appear, and we send them in a separate email from merits decisions, with a subject line that says what they are. Subscribers can turn the 📜 emails off while keeping merits decisions. See how we label every writing.