A reader asks, apropos the post on last week's Supreme Court decisions, what a "CVSG" is. "CVSG" means "Call for the Views of the Solicitor General." If the Justices are considering whether to grant a petition for certiorari (i.e., to agree to hear a case), and they think the case raises issues on which the views of the federal government might be relevant -- but the federal government is not a party, and hasn't filed a friend of the court brief itself -- they may invite the Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the U.S. government's views. This invitation is naturally treated as a command by the Solicitor General (who is often just called the SG).