U.S. Supreme Court
Joan and Irwin Jacobs Supreme Court Docket
All Cases
15 Supreme Court Cases during the 2008 Term
Montejo v. State of Louisiana
Racial Justice
Montejo v. State of Louisiana
al-Marri v. Spagone
Smart Justice
al-Marri v. Spagone
Nijhawan v. Holder
Nijhawan v. Holder
District Attorney's Office v. Osborne
+4 Issues
District Attorney's Office v. Osborne
Vermont v. Brillon
+4 Issues
Vermont v. Brillon
How Do Terms Work?
Between October and late June or early July the Supreme Court is βin session,β meaning it hears oral arguments, issues written decisions, and decides whether to take additional cases.
Submitting petitions
Our legal team at the ACLU files a cert petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, a type of petition that usually argues that a lower court has incorrectly decided an important question of law that violates civil rights and should be fixed to prevent similar confusion in similar cases.
U.S. Supreme Court decides to take a case
On average, the Court considers about 7,000 β 8,000 petitions each term and accepts about 80 for oral argument.
Oral arguments
This is the period where the U.S. Supreme Court listens to our case in court.
U.S. Supreme Court makes final decisions
While the U.S. Supreme Court makes decisions throughout the term, many are released right before the term ends. If a decision doesn't go in our favor, we fight back!
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