Case cues, especially federal government participation, predict certiorari grants.

Evidence

Some scholars have suggested that the Court’s decisions on whether to grant certiorari can be predicted on the basis of certain “cues” that trigger review. Underlying this theory is the assumption that, when faced with a deluge of petitions for review, the justices and their clerks develop shortcuts to identify meritorious cases. In recent years, the most important cue seems to be whether the party seeking review is the federal government. Other relevant cues include conflict between a lower court decision and a Supreme Court precedent, conflict between circuits on a matter of federal law, and the presence of a civil liberties issue. When several of these cues are present in a case, the likelihood of Supreme Court review increases. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1524

Categorization

• DEFINE: The ‘cue theory’ of certiorari is a named framework in judicial politics scholarship.
• XREF: Connects to work on the solicitor general’s ‘special relationship’ with the Court, a staple of judicial process literature. — connects to: Settlement terms are shaped by predictions about trial outcomes — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 362

Broader Connections

• Settlement terms are shaped by predictions about trial outcomes #complicates (0.92) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 362