Davis v. Jacobs
United States Supreme Court
454 U.S. 911 (1981)
Relevant factsFree
Davis and sixteen other state prisoners (defendants) had their habeas corpus petitions dismissed as meritless by federal district judges, who then refused to issue certificates of probable cause needed to appeal to the courts of appeals; after the courts of appeals also declined review without those certificates, the prisoners petitioned the Supreme Court for writs of certiorari.
IssueFree
Whether the United States Supreme Court has authority to grant a writ of certiorari even if the court of appeals had declined to hear an appeal and the district court refused to issue a certificate of probable cause.