What is “petition denied”? What is “petition granted”?
An appeal to the Texas Supreme Court is initiated by filing a “petition for review,” in which a party has an extremely limited number of words in which to convince the Supreme Court (1) to allow a more lengthy filing (which is called a “brief on the merits”) and (2) ultimately to grant review of a court of appeals decision of an appeal. See Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 53, 55. Regardless of whether the Supreme Court allows briefs on the merits (also known as “merits briefs” or “full briefing”), if the Supreme Court does not eventually grant review of the court of appeals decision, then the petition for review has been denied, and the “petition history” of the case is “petition denied” (also known as “pet. denied”). If the Supreme Court does grant review, regardless of whether the Supreme Court affirms or reverses the court of appeals, the case is not petition denied. The “petition history” is “petition granted” (also known as “pet. granted”) from the time that the Supreme Court grants the petition (i.e., grants review of the case) until the time that the Supreme Court issues its opinion. When the Supreme Court issues its opinion, “petition history” is longer used for the court of appeals case, but instead the Supreme Court’s ultimate disposition (e.g., affirmed, reversed) is used for the court of appeals case’s “subsequent history.”
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