Page "Certiorari" Paragraph 15

Certiorari is sometimes informally referred to as cert., and cases warranting the Supreme Court's attention as " cert.

worthy ".

The granting of a writ does not necessarily mean that the Supreme Court disagrees with the decision of the lower court.

Granting a writ of certiorari means merely that at least four of the justices have determined that the circumstances described in the petition are sufficient to warrant review by the Court.

Conversely, the Supreme Court's denial of a petition for a writ of certiorari is sometimes misunderstood to mean that the Supreme Court approves the decision of the lower court.

Such a denial " imports no expression of opinion upon the merits of the case, as the bar has been told many times ": Missouri v. Jenkins.

In particular, a denial of a writ of certiorari means that no binding precedent is created by the denial itself, and that the lower court's decision is treated as mandatory authority only within the region of jurisdiction of that court.