Appeals that come before the Supreme Court from litigants who cannot afford to pay court costs are known as in forma pauperis petitions. In the 1930s the Court began to receive in forma pauperis petitions in significant numbers and by the 1988 term more than half of all cases received by the Court were petitions by indigent defendants. In the early 1980s the Court began to require indigent petitioners to provide documentation that they could not afford to pay the court costs. Against the objections of four justices, the Court also began to deny motions to proceed in forma pauperis without first having determined whether the certiorari petitions merited plenary review.
Most in forma pauperis petitions come from criminal defendants. When the court agrees to review in forma pauperis petitions from federal defendants it usually does so in order to resolve an intercircuit conflict and/or to decide an issue of statutory law. On the other hand, state petitions from indigent defendants that are granted review tend to be challenges to the state court's rejection of a constitutional claim. Regardless of the nature of the claim, all in forma pauperis petitions have a much lower chance of being granted review than do paid petitions. Approximately 1 percent of in forma pauperis petitions was granted review during the Court's 2003 term compared to 10 percent of the paid petitions.
See also Paid Docket.
— Karen J. Maschke
