,i  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #hiib  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #ba1 #bjbf,mr4  
,raskin introduced the following bill2  
which was referred to the ,committee on 
the ,judiciary  ,a ,,bill  ,to establish
 a panel to review certiorari petitions1
 and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short    
title  ,this ,act may be cited as the   
,supreme ,court ,certiorari ,oversight  
and ,transparency ,standards ,act or the
 ,,sccotus ,act4  #b4 ,certification    
panel  7a7 ,in general ,chapter #ha of  
title #bh1 ,united ,states ,code1 is    
amended by inserting after section #abed
 the following3  #abee4 ,supreme ,court 
certification panel  7a7 ,establishment 
,there is established a body to be known
 as the ,supreme ,court ,certification  
,panel 7hereinafter the ,panel74  7b7   
,composition ,the ,panel shall consist  
of #ac circuit judges of the ,united    
,states courts of appeals4  7c7 ,random 
,selection and ,rotation  7#a7 ,term    
designations ,at the beginning of each  

term of the ,supreme ,court1 the        
,director of the ,administrative ,office
 of the ,united ,states ,courts shall1  
using the random selection process      
established under subsection            
7g77#aa77;,b71 designate #a circuit     
judge from each ,united ,states court of
 appeals1 who shall serve on the ,panel 
for that term4  7#b7 ,designation       
process ,each circuit judge designated  
under this section shall be-- 7,a7 an   
active judge who has served in ,federal 
judicial office not less than #e years2 
or  7,b7 a senior or retired judge who  
is listed on the roster maintained under
 section #bid4  7#c7 ,consecutive       
service ,no judge may serve on the      
,panel for more than #a consecutive     
term4  7#d7 ,assignment ,the ,panel     
shall be assigned all petitions for     
writs of certiorari for review4  7d7    
,presiding ,judge ,the most senior judge
 shall serve as ,presiding ,judge of the
 ,panel for that term4  7e7 ,support    
,staff ,the ,director of the            

,administrative ,office of the ,united  
,states ,courts shall provide           
administrative and clerical support to  
the ,panel4  7f7 ,vacancy ,if a member  
of the panel dies1 retires1 or is unable
 to serve the remainder of the member's 
term1 within #ij days of the occurrence 
of the vacancy1 the vacancy shall be    
filled by a circuit judge in accordance 
with subsection 7c77#b74 ,the circuit   
judge so designated shall serve for the 
remainder of the term of the former     
member4  7g7 ,jurisdiction and duties of
 panel  7#a7 ,primary function ,the     
,panel shall review all petitions for   
writs of certiorari filed with the      
,supreme ,court and grant or deny such  
petitions4  7#b7 ,reviewing a petition  
for a writ of certiorari  7,a7 ,in      
general ,a decision to grant a petition 
for a writ of certiorari shall require  
the concurrence of #d members of the    
,panel4  7,b7 ,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 
review4  7,c7 ,consolidation ,the ,panel
 may consolidate petitions for writs of 
certiorari presenting substantially     
identical questions of law and certify  
them jointly4  7#c7 ,denials ,when a    
petition for a writ of certiorari is    
denied1 the ,panel shall enter an order 
of denial stating that none of the      
criteria in paragraph 7#e7 were         
sufficiently met and no further         
explanation is required4  7#d7 ,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  
#bc 7or any successor rule74  7#e7      
,criteria for certification ,the ,panel 
may grant a petition for a writ of      
certiorari only if one or more of the   
following criteria are met3 7,a7        
,considerations governing review ,a     
petition for a writ of certiorari may be

 granted only for compelling reasons1   
including--  7i7 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 matter2  7ii7 has decided
 an important ,federal question in a way
 that conflicts with a decision by a    
,state court of last resort1 or has so  
far departed from the accepted and usual
 course of judicial proceedings1 or     
sanctioned such a departure by an       
inferior court1 as to call for an       
exercise of supervisory power of the    
,supreme ,court2  7iii7 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 appeals2  7iv7 
a ,state court or a ,united ,states     
court of appeals has decided an         
important question of ,federal law that 
has not been1 but should be1 settled by 
the ,supreme ,court1 or has decided an  

important ,federal question in a way    
that conflicts with relevant decisions  
of this ,court4  7,b7 ,granting a       
petition before judgment ,a petition for
 a writ of certiorari to review a case  
pending in a ,united ,states court of   
appeals1 before judgment is entered in  
that court1 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 ,court4   
7#f7 ,limitation ,the ,panel may not    
reexamine factual findings or weigh the 
sufficiency of evidence in the record4  
7#g7 ,operating procedures  7,a7        
,meetings ,the ,panel shall sit as a    
motions court1 meeting at least once    
monthly during the term1 and may conduct
 business electronically when necessary4
  7,b7 ,quorum ,six judges shall        
constitute a quorum4  7,c7 ,public      
reporting  7i7 ,in general ,at the close
 of each term1 the ,panel shall issue a 

public report1 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-- 7,i7 the number of
 petitions reviewed2  7,,ii7 the number 
of petitions granted and denied2 and    
7,,iii7 general statistical data on     
grounds for granting such petitions4    
7ii7 ,limitation ,no report issued      
pursuant to clause 7i7 may disclose     
confidential deliberations or           
identifying information about pending   
cases4  7#h7 ,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    
docket4  7#i7 ,review by the ,supreme   
,court ,a petition for a writ of        
certiorari granted by the ,panel shall  
be deemed granted by the ,supreme       
,court4 ,the ,supreme ,court shall set  
the case for oral argument pursuant to  

,supreme ,court ,rules4  7#aj7 ,ethics  
and disqualification  7,a7 ,ethics      
,panel judges shall be subject to the   
,code of ,conduct for ,united ,states   
,judges and standards for recusal4  7,b7
 ,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 case4   
7#aa7 ,implementation  7,a7 ,rules ,not 
later than #a year after the date of    
enactment of this section1 the ,judicial
 ,conference of the ,united ,states     
shall promulgate rules governing the    
administration and operation of the     
,panel consistent with this section4    
7,b7 ,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
 process4  7h7 ,definitions ,in this    
section1 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 hold4  4  7b7       
,clerical amendment ,the table of       
sections for chapter #ha of title #bh1  
,united ,states ,code1 is amended by    
inserting after the item relating to    
section #abee of title #bh1 ,united     
,states ,code1 the following3  #abed;,a4
 ,supreme ,court certification panel4  4
  #c4 ,severability ,if any provision of
 this ,act1 an amendment made by this   
,act1 or the application of such a      
provision or amendment to any particular
 person or circumstance is held invalid1
 the remaining provisions of this ,act  
and the amendments made by this ,act1   
and the application of such remaining   
provisions and amendments to any other  
person or circumstance1 shall not be    
affected thereby4