SCCOTUS Act

The "Supreme Court Certiorari Oversight and Transparency Standards Act," or SCCOTUS Act , establishes a new Supreme Court Certification Panel . This Panel will consist of 13 circuit judges, randomly selected annually from various U.S. courts of appeals, with specific eligibility requirements regarding their judicial service, and no judge may serve for more than one consecutive term. The Panel's primary function is to review and decide all petitions for writs of certiorari filed with the Supreme Court. Granting a petition requires the concurrence of four Panel members and a brief written explanation, while denials simply state that criteria were not met. The bill outlines specific criteria for granting certiorari , largely mirroring existing Supreme Court considerations, such as conflicts among courts or important federal questions, and explicitly prohibits reexamining factual findings. Once the Panel grants a petition, it is transmitted to the Supreme Court, which is then mandated to set the case for oral argument. The Panel will operate as a motions court, meeting at least monthly, and is required to issue an annual public report summarizing its activities, including the number of petitions reviewed, granted, and denied, along with statistical data on the grounds for granting, aiming to introduce an independent, transparent layer to the Supreme Court's case selection process.