A letter to the Supreme Court goes to 1 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20543, where administrative staff open and process it after security screening.1Supreme Court of the United States. Contact Us The Justices do not read citizen mail, and if you receive anything back it will almost certainly be a form acknowledgment. If you want to know how to write a letter to the Supreme Court that will at least be handled respectfully, the format matters, the tone matters, and knowing what a letter can and cannot accomplish matters most of all.
What a Letter Can and Cannot Do
A letter to the Court is appropriate for sharing a general perspective on constitutional principles, the role of the judiciary, or how the Court’s work has affected your life. Think of it as writing to an institution rather than petitioning a decision-maker. Letters of gratitude, personal stories tied to past rulings, and broad concerns about legal interpretation all become part of the Court’s historical correspondence, even when no one acts on them.
A letter is the wrong channel for several things people commonly try to use it for:
- Requesting legal advice. The Court cannot tell you how to handle a legal problem. A local attorney or legal aid organization is the right starting point.
- Trying to influence a pending case. Justices are ethically prohibited from considering this kind of communication.
- Filing a complaint or appeal. The Court only hears cases through its formal docket, and you cannot initiate or advance a legal matter by letter.
- Reporting emergencies or crimes. Contact local law enforcement or the appropriate federal agency.
If your frustration is with a law rather than a ruling, writing to your elected representatives in Congress is far more likely to produce any response.
How to Format and Address the Letter
Use standard business letter format. Put your full name, return address, and the date at the top. Keep it to one page. Staff processing hundreds of pieces of mail are much more likely to read something concise than a long, rambling document. Maintain a respectful, formal tone throughout, and avoid all-caps text, threats, or inflammatory language.
How you address the letter depends on who you are writing to.
Writing to the Full Court
Address the envelope to “Supreme Court of the United States, 1 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20543.” Open the letter with “To the Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Writing to the Chief Justice
Address the envelope to “The Honorable [full name], Chief Justice of the United States, Supreme Court of the United States, 1 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20543.” Use the salutation “Dear Chief Justice [surname].” The formal title is “Chief Justice of the United States,” not “Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.” It is a small distinction, but getting it right signals that you took the letter seriously.
Writing to an Associate Justice
Address the envelope to “The Honorable [full name], Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, 1 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20543.” Use the salutation “Dear Justice [surname].”
Where to Send It and Other Ways to Reach the Court
The mailing address is:
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 205431Supreme Court of the United States. Contact Us
Mail passes through security screening before it reaches any office inside the building, so delivery is not fast and there is no way to expedite it. The Court’s main telephone number is 202-479-3000, and the Clerk’s Office can be reached at 202-479-3011. The Court explicitly notes that it does not have a public comment phone line, so calling to voice an opinion about a case will not connect you to anyone equipped to take that kind of feedback.1Supreme Court of the United States. Contact Us For general, non-time-sensitive questions, the Public Information Office is reachable at 202-479-3211 during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It primarily serves the press but also fields general inquiries.2Supreme Court of the United States. PIO Services
If You Want to Influence a Case: File an Amicus Brief
If your real goal is to affect the outcome of a case before the Court, the only legitimate path is an amicus curiae brief, commonly called a “friend of the court” brief. This is a formal legal document, not a letter, and it must be filed by an attorney admitted to practice before the Supreme Court.3Supreme Court of the United States. Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States – Rule 37
The brief must bring relevant information to the Court’s attention that the parties have not already raised. The Court’s rules are blunt: a brief that does not serve that purpose “burdens the Court, and its filing is not favored.”3Supreme Court of the United States. Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States – Rule 37 Filing requires either written consent from all parties or a motion asking the Court for permission. Government entities such as the Solicitor General, state attorneys general, and authorized local government officers can file without seeking consent.
For most individuals, the practical route is to contact a nonprofit, trade association, or advocacy group aligned with your position. These organizations have attorneys who regularly file amicus briefs and can carry your perspective through the proper legal process. Deadlines are tight and format requirements are strict, so this is not something to attempt without legal counsel.
Why Justices Cannot Respond to Letters About Cases
The silence on case-related mail is not indifference; it is a rule. The Court’s Code of Conduct, adopted in November 2023, states that a Justice “should not initiate, permit, or consider ex parte communications or consider other communications concerning a pending or impending matter that are made outside the presence of the parties or their lawyers.”4Supreme Court of the United States. Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States A letter urging a Justice to rule a particular way on a pending case is exactly the sort of communication the Code bars them from considering. If a Justice somehow received one about a case’s substance, the Code requires them to notify the parties and let them respond.
The same principle runs through the broader federal judiciary. Canon 3 of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges extends the restriction to “communications from lawyers, law teachers, and others who are not participants in the proceeding.”5United States Courts. Code of Conduct for United States Judges Even within the Court’s core legal work, Justices rely on law clerks to read and summarize the hundreds of petitions that arrive each week through formal channels.6United States Courts. Supreme Court Procedures Informal mail from the public sits well below that. Write with that reality in mind, keep the letter short and civil, and pick the channel that actually fits what you want to accomplish.