When must an aligned respondent file a response supporting certiorari?

Use Supreme Court docketing rather than judgment entry, petition filing or service.

Confirm both facts. The respondent was aligned with petitioner below, and it now supports granting the petition.

Separately calendar the 20-day requirement that every party’s counsel of record receive notice of the intended supporting brief. Timely notice does not replace the response.

1. Confirm the Supreme Court docketing date and the respondent’s alignment and position.
2. Exclude the established trigger day.
3. Count 30 calendar days.
4. Apply Rule 30.1 final-day adjustment.
5. Complete the required filing by that date.

Supreme Court Rule 30.1 excludes the trigger day and includes every intermediate calendar day. For periods shorter than seven days it excludes intermediate closed days. Each fixed period reviewed here is at least seven days.

Rule 12.6 prohibits extension of the special 30-day response time. It does not attach an automatic allowance because the petition was mailed.

If the final day is Saturday, Sunday, a federal legal holiday listed in 5 U.S.C. 6103 or a Court-building closure ordered by the Court or Chief Justice, Rule 30.1 continues the period to the next day that is none of those. Check actual Court closure orders. The calculator does not infer additional closures.

Fictitious example

Fictitious Supreme Court docketing on August 24, 2026. The respondent was aligned with petitioner below and supports granting certiorari. Exclude the established trigger day, August 24, 2026. Counting 30 calendar days reaches September 23, 2026. The final day is an open weekday.

Fictitious facts and dates. No different schedule, additional Court closure or extension is assumed.

Different alignment or position

A respondent not aligned with petitioner below who supports a grant, or one aligned below who seeks denial, is not subject to this notice requirement and may respond under Rule 15.3.

Separate receipt of notice

Counsel must ensure every party’s counsel of record receives notice of intent within 20 days after docketing. Filing a response within 30 days does not prove that notice requirement.

Other petitioner schedules

A respondent supporting petitioner ordinarily meets petitioner’s schedule for other documents. Rule 12.6 supplies this specific response exception.

No-document parties

Rule 12.6 states that parties filing no document will not qualify for relief from the Court. This guide does not determine the relief available in a particular case.

• The calculator counts the encoded default period after an established trigger. It does not determine jurisdiction, party alignment or the effect of a particular order.
• Check the Court’s docket, actual directions and proof of the required act.

• Verify both alignment below and the position supporting a grant.
• Record the actual Supreme Court docketing date.
• Ensure all counsel of record receive the separate notice within 20 days.
• Prepare and file the supporting response within the nonextendable 30 days.
• Check later filings against petitioner’s schedule and actual Court directions.
• Rule 29.2 distinguishes timely paper receipt, qualifying USPS postmark, commercial-carrier delivery and proper electronic submission. Under the March 2026 rule, electronic timeliness requires the paper copies to be delivered or mailed by a specified method within three days. Rule 29.7 and the current guidelines impose additional electronic-submission requirements for represented filers and identify exceptions. Filing with the Court does not itself transmit the document to other parties.
• Check represented-filer electronic requirements and paper-copy requirements. The March 2026 guidelines exempt specified sealed and privacy-sensitive filings from electronic submission.
• Preserve both filing and separate service evidence.