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RULES  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT 

1187 

the  brief  for  the  party  who  is  the  appellant  or  petitioner 
below  shall  be  ﬁled  within  45  days  of  the  order  requiring 
briefs or setting the case for argument. 

Rule 20.	  Procedure on a Petition for an Extraordinary 

Writ 

1.  Issuance by the Court of an extraordinary writ author­
ized  by  28  U. S. C.  § 1651(a)  is  not  a  matter  of  right,  but  of 
discretion  sparingly  exercised.  To  justify  the  granting  of 
any  such  writ,  the  petition  must  show  that  the  writ  will  be 
in  aid  of  the  Court’s  appellate  jurisdiction,  that  exceptional 
circumstances warrant the exercise of the Court’s discretion­
ary  powers,  and  that  adequate  relief  cannot  be  obtained  in 
any other form or from any other court. 

2.  A  petition  seeking  a  writ  authorized  by  28  U. S. C. 
§ 1651(a), § 2241, or § 2254(a) shall be prepared in all respects 
as  required  by  Rules  33  and  34.  The  petition  shall  be  cap­
tioned  “In  re  [name  of  petitioner]”  and  shall  follow,  insofar 
as  applicable,  the  form  of  a  petition  for  a  writ  of  certiorari 
prescribed  by  Rule  14.  All  contentions  in  support  of  the 
petition  shall  be  included  in  the  petition.  The  case  will  be 
placed on the docket when 40 copies of the petition are ﬁled 
with the Clerk and the docket fee is paid, except that a peti­
tioner  proceeding  in  forma  pauperis  under  Rule  39,  includ­
ing an inmate of an institution, shall ﬁle the number of copies 
required  for  a  petition  by  such  a  person  under  Rule  12.2, 
together  with  a  motion  for  leave  to  proceed  in  forma  pau­
peris, a copy of which shall precede and be attached to each 
copy  of  the  petition.  The  petition  shall  be  served  as  re­
quired by Rule 29 (subject to subparagraph 4(b) of this Rule). 
3.  (a)  A  petition  seeking  a  writ  of  prohibition,  a  writ  of 
mandamus,  or  both  in  the  alternative  shall  state  the  name 
and ofﬁce or function of every person against whom relief is 
sought  and  shall  set  out  with  particularity  why  the  relief 
sought  is  not  available  in  any  other  court.  A  copy  of  the 
judgment with respect to which the writ is sought, including 
any  related  opinion,  shall  be  appended  to  the  petition  to­