Jump to Content Jump to Main Navigation
Signed in as:
Oxford Law Citator
Sign up for alerts

R, Rule of Four,

Edited By: Kermit L. Hall, James W. Ely Jr., Joel B. Grossman

From: The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (2nd Edition)

Edited By: Kermit L. Hall

Content type:
Book content
Product:
US Constitutional Law [USC]
Series:
Oxford Companions
Published in print:
23 June 2005
ISBN:
9780195176612

From: Oxford Constitutions (http://oxcon.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved. Subscriber: null; date: 07 June 2023

Rule of Four,

term that describes the Supreme Court’s long-standing practice of reviewing a case if four justices favor granting the petition for *certiorari. The rule was apparently developed by the justices as a procedural device after the Courts of Appeals Act of 1891 enlarged the Supreme Court’s discretionary jurisdiction (see judiciary act of 1869). The rule, which became public knowledge in 1924, assures that the Court will hear cases that a substantial minority of justices regards as important.

James W. Ely, Jr.