February 12, 2026: Updated Relist Analysis

In my last post, I pointed out that Smith v. Scott, No. 24-1099, was the most-relisted petition the Supreme Court had yet to dispose of. That remains true now, as does the number of times it has been relisted so far (still 11). I also noted that Klein v. Martin, No. 25-51, and Reed v. Goertz, No. 24-1268, were tied for second place, with 10 relists each. Well, major news, the Court finally decided the former (but not the latter) in its subsequent order list on January 26. After 10 relists, it finally did what Maryland asked it to do in Klein v. Martin: granted the state's petition for certiorari and summarily reversed the Fourth Circuit's decision granting habeas relief to someone Maryland had prosecuted for attempted murder. The per curiam here was much longer than that in Clark v. Sweeney, another Fourth Circuit summary reversal from earlier this term. In that case, the Court's per curiam took up less than four pages. But in Klein, as might be expected given the much longer delay in the opinion being published compared to Clark, the Court's opinion is much longer: a total of 16 pages, including three pages that are just photos of evidence.

With Klein, we also have something we didn't have in Clark, which is a noted dissent. Specifically, Jackson noted she would have denied certiorari here without writing an explanation (or any opinion at all, for that matter).

So Reed is now in clear second place, with 10 relists, like it had in my last post. In third place is Does v. Hochul, No. 24-1015, with seven relists: there won't be any updates on this until the Solicitor General submits an amicus brief like the Court requested--and that could (and almost certainly will) take months, even now that the request was made over two months ago.