Learn - SCOTUS 2A Case Tracker

How a Case Moves Through the Court

Timing varies, but the steps are the same for almost every case on this site.

A lower court rules. Most cases start in a trial court (a federal district court or a state court). The losing side appeals to a higher court, usually a federal circuit court of appeals. A panel of three judges decides first, and the full circuit may rehear it en banc.
The losing side files a petition for certiorari. To ask the Supreme Court to take the case, the losing side files a "cert petition," generally within 90 days of the lower court's decision. The Supreme Court is not required to take it. It receives thousands of petitions a year and accepts only a small fraction.
The other side responds, or waives. The other side can file a brief in opposition explaining why the Court should say no, or waive its right to respond. If a case looks interesting, the Court can request a response even after a waiver. The petitioner may then file a reply.
The petition is distributed for conference. The Clerk sends the petition to the nine justices for a specific conference, a private meeting. The date shows up on the docket as "distributed for conference." You can see the Court's conference dates on the Calendar page.
The justices vote on whether to hear it. It takes four votes to grant cert (the rule of four). The petition can be granted, denied, relisted for another conference, or held until a related case is decided.
If granted: briefs and argument. Both sides file full written arguments (merits briefs), and outside groups can file amicus briefs. The case is scheduled for oral argument, usually about an hour, between October and April. Related cases are sometimes consolidated and share the hour.
The justices decide and write. After argument the justices vote privately, and one justice in the majority writes the opinion. Others may write concurrences or dissents. This can take months.
The opinion is announced. Opinions are released on announced "opinion days." The biggest decisions often come in late June, at the end of the term. The case then goes back to the lower court to carry out the ruling.

What the Status Badges Mean

The colored label on each case card, explained.

Cert Granted · Argument Dec 2, 2026

The Court agreed to hear the case and has set it for argument. A decision comes after argument, often months later. Green means the Court took the case up or decided it. It does not say who won.

Decided · Reversed 6–3

The Court heard the case and issued its opinion, and the ruling is final. "Reversed" or "Affirmed" says what happened to the lower court's decision, and the numbers are the vote.

On Hold · No Conference Set

The petition is pending, but the Court has not scheduled it for a vote. Often this means the Court is waiting on a related case. Blue means still waiting.

New Petition · Response Due Nov 4

The petition was just filed. The other side has a deadline to respond before the Court considers it.

Response Requested · Due Nov 23

The other side had said it would not respond, but the Court asked for a response anyway. That usually means at least one justice wants a closer look. It does not mean the Court will take the case.

Rescheduled 3 Times · Pending

The Court scheduled the petition for conferences but postponed it before each vote. No decision has been announced.

Cert Denied — Jun 30, 2026

The Court chose not to hear the case, so the lower court's ruling stands. A denial is not a ruling on the merits. It does not mean the Court agrees with the lower court.

Beyond the Court badges

Items on the Beyond the Court tab are not Supreme Court cases, so their badges describe the item itself, such as "In Effect Nationwide" or "Ruling Paused 14 Days."

Glossary

Search or scroll. Latin and French terms are explained where they come up.

What the Court Did: Outcomes and Orders

Words you'll see on the docket and in the news when the Court acts.

Affirmed: The higher court agrees with the lower court's result, so the lower court's ruling stands.
Cert denied: The Court declines to hear the case. Nothing is decided about who is right, and the lower court's ruling stays in place. Four votes are needed to take a case, so a denial means fewer than four justices voted to.
Cert granted: The Court agrees to hear the case. Full briefs and oral argument follow, then a written decision.
Concurrence: An opinion by a justice who agrees with the result but writes separately, often to give different reasons.
Dissent: An opinion by a justice who disagrees with the majority's result.
Dissent from denial of cert: A justice writes to explain why the Court should have taken a case it turned away. Example: Justice Thomas in the Snope rifle case.
GVR (grant, vacate, and remand): The Court grants the petition, wipes out the lower court's ruling, and sends the case back to be reconsidered in light of a new decision. It is not a finding that the lower court was wrong.
Held over (or "on hold"): The Court sets a petition aside until a related case is decided, then usually acts on it (deny, or GVR). Held petitions often carry from one conference to the next.
Opinion of the Court (majority opinion): The decision that speaks for at least five justices. It becomes the law.
Per curiam: Latin for "by the court." An unsigned opinion issued in the name of the whole Court rather than one justice.
Relist: The Court discusses a petition at a conference and puts it on the next one instead of granting or denying it right away. The Court usually relists a case at least once before granting it, so long relist streaks draw attention. They don't guarantee a grant.
Remanded: Sent back to the lower court for further proceedings consistent with the higher court's ruling. You will often see "reversed and remanded."
Reversed: The higher court disagrees with the lower court, and the lower court's ruling is overturned.
Vacated: A lower court's ruling is set aside, often so the case can be redone.

How the Court Works: Calendar and Process

The vocabulary of the Court's schedule and paperwork.

Amicus curiae ("friend of the court"): Latin for "friend of the court." A person or group that is not a party but files a brief to share its view. The United States often files amicus briefs.
Brief in opposition: The respondent's written argument for why the Court should not take the case. The respondent can instead waive its right to respond.
Clean-up conference: The final conference at the end of the term, in late June, after the last opinions. The Court uses it to deal with petitions it was holding for decided cases.
Conference: A private meeting where the justices vote on petitions and on argued cases. Petitions are discussed at conferences usually held on Fridays during the term.
Distributed for conference: The Clerk has sent a petition to the justices for a specific conference. The date appears on the docket, and the vote happens on or after that date.
Docket number: A case's ID, like No. 24-1046. The first part is the Court's docket year (which starts each July), and the second is the order in which petitions were filed that year. Numbers of 5000 and up (such as 25-5961) are usually from people filing without paying the fee.
In forma pauperis (IFP): Latin for "in the manner of a pauper." Filing without paying the usual court fees. These petitions are numbered 5000 and up and are listed separately on the Court's schedule.
Long conference: The conference in late September, before the term begins, where the justices work through the petitions that piled up over the summer.
Merits brief: The full written argument filed after the Court agrees to hear a case, as opposed to the shorter cert petition.
Oral argument: The hearing where each side's lawyer presents and answers justices' questions, usually about an hour total. Consolidated cases share that time.
Petition for certiorari ("cert petition"): The request asking the Court to hear a case. "Certiorari" is Latin for "to be informed." It orders a lower court to send up its record for review.
Petitioner and respondent: The petitioner is the side asking the Supreme Court to act, usually the one that lost below. The respondent is the other side.
Rule of four: It takes four of the nine justices to grant cert. It takes five to win a decision.
Term (October Term 2026, or OT2026): The Court's work year. It begins the first Monday in October and runs until late June or early July. OT2026 started in October 2026.

Lower Courts and Legal Concepts

Terms that come up in the lower-court rulings behind these cases.

As-applied challenge: A claim that a law is unconstitutional as it was applied to a particular person's situation, even if it could be valid elsewhere. Hemani was as-applied.
Circuit court of appeals: The federal appeals courts. There are thirteen: eleven numbered circuits (such as the Fourth or the Ninth), the D.C. Circuit, and the Federal Circuit. Each covers a region.
Circuit split: Two or more circuits disagree about the same legal question. It is one of the most common reasons the Supreme Court takes a case, because federal law shouldn't mean different things in different regions.
De novo: Latin for "anew." A reviewing court looks at a legal question fresh, giving no deference to the lower court's view.
En banc: French for "on the bench." (It is often mistaken for Latin.) Instead of the usual three-judge panel, all or most of a circuit's judges rehear the case together. En banc rulings carry extra weight.
Facial challenge: A claim that a law is unconstitutional in all or nearly all of its applications, not just for one person. These are harder to win than as-applied claims.
Injunction: A court order to do or stop doing something. A preliminary injunction is temporary, while the case continues. A permanent injunction comes after the court has decided the case.
Inverted case: An informal term on this site for a case where the government, not the challenger, asks the Supreme Court to review a ruling it lost below. Bivens and Hembree are examples.
Mandate (and stay of mandate): The mandate is the appeals court's formal order that makes its ruling take effect. A stay of mandate pauses that, often while a party asks the Supreme Court to review.
Moot: A case is moot when events have removed the dispute, so a court can no longer give a meaningful remedy. This is why one petition was filed by an organization that never "ages out."
Panel: The usual group of three appeals judges who hear a case, before any en banc review.
Precedent and stare decisis: Precedent is an earlier decision courts follow. "Stare decisis" is Latin for "to stand by things decided," the principle that courts generally keep to precedent.
Pro se: Latin for "for oneself." Representing yourself without a lawyer.
Section symbol and U.S.C.: "18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3)" means Title 18 of the United States Code, section 922, subsection (g)(3). The "§" is the section symbol. The U.S. Code is the collection of federal statutes.
Standing: A person must be harmed in a concrete way by a law to challenge it in court. Cases can be dismissed for lack of standing.
Summary judgment: A ruling by a judge, without a full trial, that one side wins because the key facts aren't in dispute.

Second Amendment Terms

The key cases and ideas behind the gun-rights cases on this site.

"Assault weapon" ban: A legal label for state laws banning certain semi-automatic rifles. Each law defines the term itself, and the definitions vary. No federal ban is in force.
Bruen: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022). The Court struck down New York's "proper cause" requirement for carry licenses and set the "text, history, and tradition" test for judging gun laws.
Common use: A standard from Heller: arms commonly used by law-abiding people for lawful purposes are protected, while "dangerous and unusual" weapons may be restricted. Who must prove what about common use is a live question in several cases.
Heller: District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). The Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep a handgun at home for self-defense.
McDonald: McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010). The Court held that the Second Amendment limits state and local governments as well as the federal government, through the Fourteenth Amendment.
National Firearms Act (NFA): A 1934 federal law that regulates items like suppressors, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and machine guns, through registration and a transfer process.
Rahimi: United States v. Rahimi (2024). The Court upheld the federal ban on gun possession by people under certain domestic-violence restraining orders, and said modern laws need to fit the principles of historical laws, not match a "historical twin."
Reciprocity: Whether one state honors another state's carry permit. Without it, a permit holder can break the law by crossing a state line.
Section 922(g): The part of federal law listing who cannot possess firearms, including felons (922(g)(1)) and unlawful drug users (922(g)(3)).
Sensitive places: Locations such as schools or government buildings where Bruen suggested guns can be restricted. Courts are still deciding which other places count.
Text, history, and tradition: The Bruen test. If the Second Amendment's plain text covers the conduct, the government must show the law fits the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.

This guide is a plain-language reference, not legal advice. For official procedure, see the Supreme Court's guide to its procedures.