Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/09pdf/09-166.pdf
Page Number: 3

Cite as:  558 U. S. ____ (2009) 

3 

Statement of STEVENS, J. 

judicial business.”  Ibid. 

The  certification  process  has  all  but  disappeared  in
recent decades.  The Court has accepted only a handful of
certified cases since the 1940s and none since 1981; it is a 
newsworthy  event  these  days  when  a  lower  court  even
tries  for  certification.  Section  1254(2)  and  this  Court’s
Rule  19  remain  part  of  our  law  because  the  certification
process serves a valuable, if limited, function.  We ought to 
avail  ourselves  of  it  in  an  appropriate  case.    In  my  judg-
ment, this case should be briefed and set for argument.