Court Opinion

ID: 9429637
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:27:25.550091+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:20.268059
License: Public Domain

Justice Stevens,
concurring.
Although the origins of the Rule of Four are somewhat obscure,1 its administration during the past 60 years has undergone a number of changes.2 Even though our decision today makes no change in the Rule, I regard it as sufficiently significant to warrant these additional comments.
I first note that I agree with the reasons set forth in the per curiam opinion for not deciding this case. I would add (1) that the major reasons were apparent when the certiorari, petition was filed, and (2) that our jurisdiction over this case is problematic at best because the most straightforward interpretation of the New York Court of Appeals’ opinion is that the statutory provision at issue in this case is not sever-able, as a matter of state law, from the provision invalidated in People v. Onofre, 51 N. Y. 2d 476, 415 N. E. 2d 936 (1980), cert. denied, 451 U. S. 987 (1981). The Court, quite correctly in my opinion, therefore declines to address the merits.
Four Members of the Court believe, however, that the merits “should be addressed.” Post, at 252. They do not, *250however, address the merits themselves. Cf. Colorado v. Nunez, 465 U. S. 324 (1984) (concurring opinion). Nor do they attempt to refute the sound reasons offered by the majority for dismissing the writ as improvidently granted. As long as we adhere to the Rule of Four, four Justices have the power to require that a case be briefed, argued, and considered at a postargument conference. Why, then, should they not also have the power to command that its merits be decided by the Court?
The difference in the character of the decision to hear a case and the decision to decide it justifies a difference in the way the decision should be made. As long as we act prudently in selecting cases for review,3 there is relatively little to be lost, and a great deal to be gained, by permitting four Justices who are convinced that a case should be heard to have it placed on the calendar for argument. It might be suggested that the case must be decided unless there has been an intervening development that justifies a dismissal. See generally Rice v. Sioux City Cemetery, 349 U. S. 70 (1955). I am now persuaded, however, that there is always an important intervening development that may be decisive. The Members of the Court have always considered a case more carefully after full briefing and argument on the merits than they could at the time of the certiorari conference, when almost 100 petitions must be considered each week.4 Nevertheless, once a case has been briefed, argued, and studied in chambers, sound principles of judicial economy normally *251outweigh most reasons advanced for dismissing a case. Indeed, in many cases, the majority may remain convinced that the case does not present a question of general significance warranting this Court’s review, but nevertheless proceed to decide the case on the merits because there is no strong countervailing reason to dismiss after the large investment of resources by the parties and the Court.
A decision on the merits does, of course, have serious consequences, particularly when a constitutional issue is raised, and most especially when the constitutional issue presents questions of first impression. The decision to decide a constitutional question may be the most momentous decision that can be made in a case. Fundamental principles of constitutional adjudication counsel against premature consideration of constitutional questions and demand that such questions be presented in a context conducive to the most searching analysis possible. See generally Ashwander v. TV A, 297 U. S. 288, 341 (1936) (Brandéis, J., concurring). The policy of judicial restraint is most salient in this Court, given its role as the ultimate expositor of the meaning of the Constitution, and “perhaps the most effective implement for making the policy effective has been the certiorari jurisdiction conferred upon this Court by Congress.” Rescue Army v. Municipal Court, 331 U. S. 549, 568 (1947). If a majority is convinced after studying the case that its posture, record, or presentation of issues makes it an unwise vehicle for exercising the “gravest and most delicate” function that this Court is called upon to perform, the Rule of Four should not reach so far as to compel the majority to decide the case.
In conclusion, the Rule of Four is a valuable, though not immutable, device for deciding when a case must be argued, but its force is largely spent once the case has been heard. At that point, a more fully informed majority of the Court must decide whether some countervailing principle outweighs the interest in judicial economy in deciding the case.

 See Leiman, The Rule of Four, 57 Colum. L. Rev. 975, 981-982 (1957).

 See Stevens, The Life Span of a Judge-Made Rule, 58 N. Y. U. L. Rev. 1, 11-14 (1983).

 We have granted review in approximately 50 fewer cases thus far this Term than we had at the corresponding point in the October 1981 Term.

 A particularly dramatic example of the contrast between the quality of decisionmaking after argument as compared with that prior to studying the merits is provided by the contrast between the virtually unanimous decision to deny the application for a stay in Palmore v. Sidoti, 460 U. S. 1018 (1983), and the unanimous decision to reverse the decision below on the merits, 466 U. S. 429 (1984).