Who Asked You? The (Dis)Use of Questions Presented at the U.S. Supreme Court

Abstract

Abstract When the United States Supreme Court agrees to hear a case, it also determines what legal questions it will answer in that case. We investigate the variation in the Court's acceptance, alteration, and addition of questions presented (QPs) in petitions for the writ of certiorari. Examining data on granted cases from 2010–2020, we find that the Court is overwhelmingly passive, accepting the petitioners’ QPs without comment in most cases. We also find variation related to ideological alignment and petitioner identity. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the Court’s policymaking efforts and its exercise of agenda-setting power and underscore the important role that litigants play in legal development.