The jury is still out.

My Pro Se Petition for Writ of Certiorari has about a .00000000001 % chance of being granted. It is almost unheard of for SCOTUS to review cases brought by pro se litigants.

There was a moment on December 9, 2024 when my heart raced and I shook and spoke like the men on the hunting videos my husband watches, right after they kill a buck. I thought I might have a heart attack. My docket had the words “motion granted”.

That was just a motion, not the petition for writ of certiorari.

Having the motion I filed granted was a big deal standing alone. It felt the same as seeing my 162 on the LSAT this past August. My motion asked for documents the lower courts kept sealed to be seen by you, the Public. Those documents were posted on this blog immediately.

Then the let down. Someone from the Supreme Court called me back to verify that it was the motion that was granted. She said that only the part of the motion asking for the documents to be filed under seal initially, to be in compliance with the lower court orders, was granted. She said that the justices understood that I was asking to unseal those documents and they were keeping them sealed at the Supreme Court.

There was no explanation of why the docket failed to mention my motion to unseal, and why there was no copy of my motion filed on the docket. There was no indication that there was a motion to unseal, even to say the motion itself was filed under seal.

There is a mechanism for me to purchase a certified copy of the motion filed. I will do that.

In the meantime, I checked the appendix to see what was made available to the public. The clerk scanned all the documents I filed, other than the four under seal. The guidance given by the Supreme Court says that only orders and required appendices will be scanned. “The Court’s practice is to scan and make available on its website most filings submitted by litigants representing themselves. The Court scans petitions, motions to proceed in forma pauperis, proofs of service, and the portion of an appendix that includes relevant lower court opinions and rulings. While the Court does not scan other portions of an appendix from a pro se litigant, the entire appendix is fully a part of the Court’s record and is available to the Justices.” Motions to seal are typically not available as links on their dockets. But other motions, like extensions of time, are. I have not found any other motion to unseal yet.

The appendix as scanned by the Supreme Court clerk is posted below for you to download. The clerk added an order that I did not include. It starts at electronic page 302. It is the order concerning my motion to settle the record, claiming the transcript of a hearing was falsified.

That this order was added to the appendix is promising for one reason. Obviously, someone looked carefully at my filing. The question of the accuracy or inaccuracy of the record is notable to the highest court.

So, why make their own record inaccurate? Why not mention that my motion also asked to unseal? Why not post the motion and write “denied in part”? Or write that the motion to unseal will be considered separately? At this point, it feels a little like reading the transcript that left out a lecture by Judge Rudofsky. I’m positive I don’t hallucinate. Why try to gaslight me? Hopefully the motion to unseal (and the motion to settle the record) will be revisited upon grant of certiorari. Hope and prayers.