Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/177

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Cite as: 502 U. S. 16 (1991)

19

Stevens, J., dissenting

“the integrity of our process” from those indigent petitioners who file frivolous petitions for certiorari.1 Since the amended Rule became effective on July 1, 1991, indigent litigants have filed almost 1,000 petitions, which this Court has denied without pausing to determine whether they were frivolous within the meaning of Rule 39. In my judgment, well over half of these petitions could have been characterized as frivolous. Nevertheless, under procedures that have been in place for many years, the petitions were denied in the usual manner. The “integrity of our process” was not compromised in the slightest by the Court’s refusal to spend valuable time deciding whether to enforce Rule 39 against so many indigent petitioners. The Court has applied a different procedure to the petitioners in these cases. Their multiple filings have enabled the Court to single them out as candidates for enforcement of the amended Rule. As a result, the order in their cases denies leave to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to Rule 39.8, rather than simply denying certiorari. The practical effect of such an order is the same as a simple denial.2 However, the symbolic effect of the Court’s effort to draw distinctions among the multitude of frivolous petitions—none of which will be granted in any event—is powerful. Although the Court may have intended to send a message about the 1 In re Amendment to Rule 39, 500 U. S. 13, 14 (1991). The amended Rule, Rule 39.8 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States, provides as follows: “If satisfied that a petition for a writ of certiorari, jurisdictional statement, or petition for an extraordinary writ, as the case may be, is frivolous or malicious, the Court may deny a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.” 2 In the past, I have noted that the work of the Court is “facilitated by the practice of simply denying certiorari once a determination is made that there is no merit to the petitioner’s claim,” rather than determining whether “the form of the order should be a denial or a dismissal” in cases of questionable jurisdiction. Davis v. Jacobs, 454 U. S. 911, 914–915 (1981) (opinion respecting denial of petitions for writs of certiorari).