Federal and State Courts  Parties seeking appeals petition for a writ of certiorari –an order to the lower court asking to send the record up to the Supreme Court  Takes four judges to accept a case to the court's docket—Rule of Four  Otherwise, petition is denied and lower court ruling is left undisturbed –does not count as a precendential setting  Only about 2 percent of petitions are granted cert Supreme Court (cont.)
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