denial of certiorari
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 338 U.S. 912 - Maryland v. Baltimore Radio Show, Inc. · 1950Most cited · 667 citing opinions
It simply means that fewer than four members of the Court deemed it desirable to review a decision of the lower court as a matter 'of sound judicial discretion'. A variety of considerations underlie denials of the writ, and as to the same petition different reasons may lead different Justices to the same result. … such a denial carries with it no implication whatever regarding the Court's views on the merits of a case which it has declined to review.
How the Supreme Court has restated “denial of certiorari”
Each Supreme Court definition of “denial of certiorari,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “denial of certiorari”
Court decisions citing the 4 opinions that defined “denial of certiorari” — 1,974 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 4 definitions, chronological · 1945–1956
- ORIGINAL
a denial of certiorari by this Court imports no expression of opinion upon the merits of a case
Our denial of certiorari in habeas corpus cases is without substantive significance.
Such denial of his petition in no wise implies that this Court approves the decision of the Supreme Court of Ohio. It means and means only that for one reason or another this case did not commend itself to at least four members of the Court as falling within those considerations which should lead this Court to exercise its discretion in reviewing a lower court's decision.