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How does the Supreme Court decide which petitions for review to accept?
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Major Supreme Court Cases from the 2025–26 Term
The west facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.
The Supreme Court of the United States exercises nearly exclusive discretion in selecting its caseload, receiving approximately 7,000 certiorari requests annually while typically hearing only about 80 cases per term.1
The process for accepting these petitions involves several key steps:
- Circulation: All requests for certiorari are circulated among the justices for review.1
- The Discuss List: The chief justice leads the Court in developing a "discuss list" of potential cases, though any associate justice may request that additional cases be added to this list for consideration.1
- The Rule of Four: By a long-standing tradition known as the "Rule of Four," the Court will grant a petition for review only if at least four of the nine justices vote to hear the case.1
Once the Court decides to grant certiorari, the records and briefs from the lower courts are delivered to the Supreme Court, and the case is scheduled for oral argument.1