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  1. Home
  2. ›Definitions
  3. ›Supreme Court
  4. ›Merits case

Supreme Court

Merits case

A case the Court takes for briefing, argument, and decision.

What this means

Merits work is the full Supreme Court case track: briefs, oral argument in many matters, and opinions. It differs from the large volume of petitions that never receive plenary review.

Related

  • Certiorari

    Supreme Court decision to take a case for full review.

  • Opinion

    Written decision or separate writing in a case.

  • Oral argument

    In-person or remote argument before the justices.

All definitions · Methodology