Petition for a Writ of Certiorari

A formal Supreme Court filing: a stapled multi-page legal petition bearing a case caption and clerical marks. The packet reads as procedural, composed of typed pages on standard bond paper and carried into the chamber as the subject of the Court’s ruling. Justices reference the document as they announce that certiorari is refused; its presence converts abstract appeals into immediate constitutional consequence, and defenders and the petitioner react to the spoken denial.

1 appearances

Purpose

To request Supreme Court review of a lower-court judgment by asking the Court to grant certiorari.

Significance

Serves as the procedural vehicle whose refusal by the Court precipitates the execution schedule and triggers an urgent political and moral crisis for the White House and counsel.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S1E14 · Take This Sabbath Day

Gavel Falls — Stay Denied; Execution Scheduled

The petition for a writ of certiorari is explicitly refused in the spoken opinion; its denial signifies that the Supreme Court will not review the case, converting an appeal into finality and removing the highest-level judicial avenue.

Before: Pending before the Court as a request for discretionary review that would have allowed the Court to reconsider the lower-court judgment.

After: Denied and returned to the record; the procedural pathway it represented is closed.

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