There has been much discussion of certworthiness of late. Should certworthiness play a role in granting emergency relief on the shadow docket? What about the sharp decline of cert grants? For one reason or another, the Court simply is getting more stingy with certiorari.
Justice Gorsuch's solo dissent from denial of cert in Cunningham v. Florida speaks to this frustration. For some time, Justice Gorsuch has objected to Williams v. Florida (1970), which reversed precedent, and upheld the constitutionality of a six-person jury. Justice Gorsuch dissented from denial of cert on this issue in Khorrami v. Arizona (2022). Justice Kavanaugh did not join Justice Gorsuch's dissent, but would have granted the petition.
But now in Cunningham, Justice Gorsuch is all alone, left to hope for three more votes. He wrote:
