[1][2] Applying for a writ of certiorari from the United States Supreme Court costs $300.

However, in the interest of access, a petitioner may attest that they are too poor to afford the fee, and it will be waived.

[2] Soon before Zatko, and over the dissent of three justices, the Court updated its rules to give them more control over this process.

[2] In dissent, Stevens noted that the court routinely denied applications from indigent petitioners without any analysis of the frivolity of their claims, even after the rule change.

He thought that singling out these petitioners because they filed many claims was bad policy: "Although the Court may have intended to send a message about the need for the orderly administration of justice and respect for the judicial process, the message that it actually conveys is that the Court does not have an overriding concern about equal access to justice for both the rich and the poor.