Supreme Court Extends Cert. Filing Deadline by 2 Months

An order issued today:

In light of the ongoing public health concerns relating to COVID-19, the following shall apply to cases prior to a ruling on a petition for a writ of certiorari:

IT IS ORDERED that the deadline to file any petition for a writ of certiorari due on or after the date of this order is extended to 150 days [instead of the usual 90 days] from the date of the lower court judgment, order denying discretionary review, or order denying a timely petition for rehearing. See Rules 13.1 and 13.3.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that motions for extensions of time pursuant to Rule 30.4 will ordinarily be granted by the Clerk as a matter of course if the grounds for the application are difficulties relating to COVID-19 and if the length of the extension requested is reasonable under the circumstances. Such motions should indicate whether the opposing party has an objection.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, notwithstanding Rules 15.5 and 15.6, the Clerk will entertain motions to delay distribution of a petition for writ of certiorari where the grounds for the motion are that the petitioner needs additional time to file a reply due to difficulties relating to COVID-19. Such motions will ordinarily be granted by the Clerk as a matter of course if the length of the extension requested is reasonable under the circumstances and if the motion is actually received by the Clerk at least two days prior to the relevant distribution date. Such motions should indicate whether the opposing party has an objection.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that these modifications to the Court's Rules and practices do not apply to cases in which certiorari has been granted or a direct appeal or original action has been set for argument.

These modifications will remain in effect until further order of the Court.

Comments

[Dr. Ed]

If one presumes that the load is constant and the number of cases that the maximum number of cases the court can hear in a session is also a constant, this means that certs that otherwise would have to be filed in FY-20 will instead be filed in FY-21 -- along with all the ones that still will be filed in FY-21.

What this will mean -- possibly in the 2021 session -- is that a dramatically smaller percentage of a year's certs will be granted.

In other news, an interesting opinion from the Maine AG:
https://bangordailynews.com/2020/03/19/news/state/day-cares-can-legally-charge-parents-while-theyre-closed-attorney-general-says/

[Dr. Ed]

Ummm -- 150 days is FIVE months, not two...

150/30=5

[Bob from Ohio]

Extend TO 150 days,not BY 150 days.

[Eugene Volokh]

Right -- the standard time limit is 90 days. But I'll revise the post slightly to make that clearer.

[Dr. Ed]

Good point for those of us out in the unwashed masses who didn't realize this -- but it's still going to create a bulge in the number of certs when the 90 day rule then kicks in (and those certs which otherwise could have been filed 2 months later must now be filed earlier so as to meet the 90 day limit).

Legally, I have no idea what significance this will have -- as a researcher, I can point out the statistical variance, but in terms of legal difference, I have no idea...