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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8992 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8992
To establish a panel to review certiorari petitions, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 21, 2026
Mr. Raskin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a panel to review certiorari petitions, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Supreme Court Certiorari Oversight
and Transparency Standards Act'' or the ``SCCOTUS Act''.
SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION PANEL.
(a) In General.--Chapter 81 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 1254 the following:
``Sec. 1255. Supreme Court certification panel
``(a) Establishment.--There is established a body to be known as
the Supreme Court Certification Panel (hereinafter `the Panel').
``(b) Composition.--The Panel shall consist of 13 circuit judges of
the United States courts of appeals.
``(c) Random Selection and Rotation.--
``(1) Term designations.--At the beginning of each term of
the Supreme Court, the Director of the Administrative Office of
the United States Courts shall, using the random selection
process established under subsection (g)(11)(B), designate 1
circuit judge from each United States court of appeals, who
shall serve on the Panel for that term.
``(2) Designation process.--Each circuit judge designated
under this section shall be--
``(A) an active judge who has served in Federal
judicial office not less than 5 years; or
``(B) a senior or retired judge who is listed on
the roster maintained under section 294.
``(3) Consecutive service.--No judge may serve on the Panel
for more than 1 consecutive term.
``(4) Assignment.--The Panel shall be assigned all
petitions for writs of certiorari for review.
``(d) Presiding Judge.--The most senior judge shall serve as
Presiding Judge of the Panel for that term.
``(e) Support Staff.--The Director of the Administrative Office of
the United States Courts shall provide administrative and clerical
support to the Panel.
``(f) Vacancy.--If a member of the panel dies, retires, or is
unable to serve the remainder of the member's term, within 90 days of
the occurrence of the vacancy, the vacancy shall be filled by a circuit
judge in accordance with subsection (c)(2). The circuit judge so
designated shall serve for the remainder of the term of the former
member.
``(g) Jurisdiction and Duties of Panel.--
``(1) Primary function.--The Panel shall review all
petitions for writs of certiorari filed with the Supreme Court
and grant or deny such petitions.
``(2) Reviewing a petition for a writ of certiorari.--
``(A) In general.--A decision to grant a petition
for a writ of certiorari shall require the concurrence
of 4 members of the Panel.
``(B) Written statement.--Each decision to grant a
petition for a writ of certiorari shall include a
written statement briefly explaining the reason for
granting such request and identifying the questions
presented for review.
``(C) Consolidation.--The Panel may consolidate
petitions for writs of certiorari presenting
substantially identical questions of law and certify
them jointly.
``(3) Denials.--When a petition for a writ of certiorari is
denied, the Panel shall enter an order of denial stating that
none of the criteria in paragraph (5) were sufficiently met and
no further explanation is required.
``(4) Stays pending appeal.--A member of the Panel shall
have the same authority to grant a stay as a Justice of the
Supreme Court has under Supreme Court Rule 23 (or any successor
rule).
``(5) Criteria for certification.--The Panel may grant a
petition for a writ of certiorari only if one or more of the
following criteria are met:
``(A) Considerations governing review.--A petition
for a writ of certiorari may be granted only for
compelling reasons, including--
``(i) a United States court of appeals has
entered a decision in conflict with the
decision of another United States court of
appeals on the same important matter;
``(ii) has decided an important Federal
question in a way that conflicts with a
decision by a State court of last resort, or
has so far departed from the accepted and usual
course of judicial proceedings, or sanctioned
such a departure by an inferior court, as to
call for an exercise of supervisory power of
the Supreme Court;
``(iii) a State court of last resort has
decided an important Federal question in a way
that conflicts with the decision of another
State court of last resort or of a United
States court of appeals;
``(iv) a State court or a United States
court of appeals has decided an important
question of Federal law that has not been, but
should be, settled by the Supreme Court, or has
decided an important Federal question in a way
that conflicts with relevant decisions of this
Court.
``(B) Granting a petition before judgment.--A
petition for a writ of certiorari to review a case
pending in a United States court of appeals, before
judgment is entered in that court, may only be granted
upon a showing that the case is of such imperative
public importance as to justify deviation from normal
appellate practice and to require immediate
determination by the Supreme Court.
``(6) Limitation.--The Panel may not reexamine factual
findings or weigh the sufficiency of evidence in the record.
``(7) Operating procedures.--
``(A) Meetings.--The Panel shall sit as a motions
court, meeting at least once monthly during the term,
and may conduct business electronically when necessary.
``(B) Quorum.--Six judges shall constitute a
quorum.
``(C) Public reporting.--
``(i) In general.--At the close of each
term, the Panel shall issue a public report,
published on the website of the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts and
submitted to the Committees on the Judiciary of
the House of Representatives and the Senate
summarizing--
``(I) the number of petitions
reviewed;
``(II) the number of petitions
granted and denied; and
``(III) general statistical data on
grounds for granting such petitions.
``(ii) Limitation.--No report issued
pursuant to clause (i) may disclose
confidential deliberations or identifying
information about pending cases.
``(8) Transmission to the supreme court.--Each petition for
a writ of certiorari that is granted shall be transmitted to
the Clerk of the Supreme Court to be entered on the docket.
``(9) Review by the supreme court.--A petition for a writ
of certiorari granted by the Panel shall be deemed granted by
the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shall set the case for
oral argument pursuant to Supreme Court Rules.
``(10) Ethics and disqualification.--
``(A) Ethics.--Panel judges shall be subject to the
Code of Conduct for United States Judges and standards
for recusal.
``(B) Disqualification.--A judge who participated
in a case in an inferior court shall be disqualified
from any consideration of a petition for writ of
certiorari with respect to that case.
``(11) Implementation.--
``(A) Rules.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this section, the Judicial Conference
of the United States shall promulgate rules governing
the administration and operation of the Panel
consistent with this section.
``(B) Record keeping.--The Director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall
establish the random-selection mechanism and maintain
public records of the selection process.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section, the term `term' means the term
commencing on the first Monday in October of each year and such other
adjourned or special term as the Supreme Court may hold.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 81 of
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 1255 of title 28, United States Code, the
following:
``1254A. Supreme Court certification panel.''.
SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the
application of such a provision or amendment to any particular person
or circumstance is held invalid, the remaining provisions of this Act
and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of such
remaining provisions and amendments to any other person or
circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.
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