Supreme Court Cert. Petitions - Who Will Be Heard?

Each year thousands of litigants petition the U.S. Supreme Court, yet the Court grants cert. in fewer than 100 cases.

As the new term approaches, is there any way to predict which cases make it over the hurdle? Over at SCOTUSblog, they think so, and in Petitions to Watch: Opening Conference,  SCOTUSblog presents and describes Tom Goldstein's list of petitions with a "reasonable" chance of being granted.

How skilled a prognosticator is Tom Goldstein? Last year, after sorting through well over 1500 paid cert. petitions, he identified about 200 with a "reasonable" chance of being granted — and of those about 70 or so were among the small number of cases the Court agreed to review.