Great Falls woman petitions to take animal abuse case to U.S. Supreme Court

Traci Rosenbaum, GreatFalls
·2 min read
A dog looks out of an enclosure on Pamela Polejewski's property west of Great Falls. Polejewski has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty after 176 animals were seized by the Cascade County Sheriff's Office.
A dog looks out of an enclosure on Pamela Polejewski's property west of Great Falls. Polejewski has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty after 176 animals were seized by the Cascade County Sheriff's Office.

A Great Falls-area woman who faces criminal charges and has filed a slew of civil suits now intends to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case regarding alleged animal abuse in Cascade County.

On Dec. 28, 2021, Pamela Jo Polejewski filed a pro se petition with the highest court in the United States stating her petition for a rehearing in the Montana Supreme Court was denied and asking for a writ of certiorari.

More: 'It's like Noah's Ark': Polejewski has long history of animal seizure in Cascade County

According to the Cornell Law School, this type of writ, meant for rare use, is one by which “an appellate court decides to review a case at its discretion…A writ of certiorari orders a lower court to deliver its record in a case so that the higher court may review it.”

“The Court usually is not under any obligation to hear these cases, and it usually only does so if the case could have national significance, might harmonize conflicting decisions in the federal Circuit courts, and/or could have precedential value,” says the United States Courts’ government website. “In fact, the Court accepts 100-150 of the more than 7,000 cases that it is asked to review each year.”

In her letter to the Supreme Court, Polejewski admits that her petition comes after the 90-day deadline and requests that the court extend that deadline by 30 to 60 days because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also states that because her file extends across multiple courts and multiple judges, she needs more time as a pro se litigant to organize her records.

The petition for rehearing Polejewski references in her letter was denied by the Montana Supreme Court. This and others of her many requests have been thrown out for failure to follow proper court procedure.

As of now, all of Polejewski’s Montana Supreme Court cases are closed. Her criminal case in Cascade County District Court is still pending trial on March 21. She also has one federal case still alive in this matter.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Great Falls woman petitions to take animal abuse case to Supreme Court