Your Petition and Anthrax Screening

        You’ve just over-nighted a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court, and you’re eager for the Justices to rip open their individual copies tomorrow and start reading all about the case’s unjustness.  But not so fast.  A petition is considered filed the date it’s postmarked.  But the Justices won’t have a copy in hand until four to six days later.

        The culprit of the delay?  Off-site anthrax screening.

        So where is it done?  And why?  And how?

        I called the Court for answers, but was told simply, the Court “will not discuss the anthrax screening process … at all.”

        I did a little research of my own, and this is what I found.

        The anthrax mail scare began in the fall of 2001, coinciding with the September 11 attacks.  Five people died as a result of anthrax exposure and 18 others got sick.  Hundreds of people took preventative antibiotics to stave off any possible side effects.

        News and media organizations, post offices, and governmental buildings were hit the hardest.

        In late October of 2001, Supreme Court officials reassured the public that the Court building had not been contaminated with anthrax.  However, the toxic substance was found on an air filter at a mailroom in the building’s basement.  The Justices and 400 Court employees were tested for the bacteria and placed on a one-week course of antibiotics.  Test results came back negative for all employees.

        Nevertheless, the Supreme Court moved to a different building.  It was the first time the Justices convened outside the building since it was constructed in 1935.  The Justices met in the courtroom for the D.C. Circuit for a couple of days while the entire Court building was tested.

        Although it may not be clear exactly what the Supreme Court does with a document in the days before it reaches the Justices’ hands, or where it goes, or how it’s tested, the Court’s Rules do accommodate the anthrax screening process.  Rule 29 allows a petition to be considered filed when it’s handed to a third-party carrier, rather than the date the document arrives at the Court.  Rule 29.1 holds that “A document is timely filed if it … bears a postmark … showing that the document was mailed on or before the last day for filing ….”

        Bottom line: The Supreme Court’s anthrax screening process has no adverse effect on filing a document with the Court.  In fact, it may even aid you by allowing a document to be sent on the date it’s technically due.

        If you just can’t bear the four-to-six-day wait for anthrax screening, your only option is to hand-deliver the documents to the Court in an open, unsealed box.  For more information on how Cockle Law Brief Printing Co. can assist you with this process, please give us a call at 800-225-6964.