Bowe v. United States · ¶109

Accustomed as we are to proceeding by way of certiorari under §1254(1), it’s true that we have rarely accepted certified questions under §1254(2). But a rare procedure befits rare circumstances. And this case involves a rare circumstance indeed—a circuit split that would otherwise stagger on forever. Rather than ignore §2244’s express constraint on our certiorari jurisdiction, then, we might have simply signaled to the courts of appeals our willingness to accept certification in this or a similar case. Cf. United States v. Rice, 327 U. S. 742, 746–747 (1946) (accepting certification in the uncommon situation of a “circuit court of appeals . . . equally divided on” questions of law).

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