During the active term of the Court, the Justices sit in a private conference every week or so to consider which petitions to grant, to review Supreme Court briefs, and to issue orders on pending motions. In these conferences, they also decide whether or not to grant certain petitioners in forma pauperis (IFP) status.
Petitioners with little or no financial resources can elect to file their briefs on the IFP docket. Those types of petitions are printed onto letter-sized pages, then stapled in the corner. And instead of paying the $300 filing fee, IFP petitioners submit an application and financial affidavit to ask the Court to accept their Supreme Court briefs in the IFP format, without the filing fee. (My colleague Mathew Planalp has a post about the IFP process.)
But the Court’s IFP standards are very stringent. And in almost every conference, the Justices deny some IFP applications. However, the Court does give filers denied IFP status three weeks to re-file their Supreme Court briefs in the booklet format, and to pay the filing fee.
An IFP denial can be a significant setback. Too many citizen-petitioners cannot afford the cost of preparing booklet Supreme Court briefs, and those appeals must end without being fully considered by the Court.
Cockle Legal Briefs is the leading Supreme Court printer. We prepare booklet briefs for filing on the Court’s regular docket. And yes, we must charge for our work. Producing exceptional Supreme Court briefs requires a team of experts to examine, format, and print the document. We take great pride knowing that the Court reads our booklets to make historic decisions, and our reputation has been earned by our professional service.
We have found a way to help some citizen-filers get their Supreme Court briefs into the Court, even without the backing of a major law firm. For those petitioners, we can offer reduced prices by:
- Setting up a proof and printing schedule to take full advantage of the time re-filing deadline. Rushed schedules add to costs.
- Offering expert advice to streamline the petition. Unnecessary pages add to costs.
- Finding ways for the citizen-petitioner to take on some of the preparation work. Paying us to do work the filer can do adds to costs.
If you have had your IFP application denied, you should contact us immediately. At no cost to you, our team can examine your petition, and then talk to you about ways to prepare a professional booklet on a budget you can afford.