Page:Nutraceutical Corporation v. Troy Lambert.pdf/6

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NUTRACEUTICAL CORP. v. LAMBERT

Opinion of the Court

forfeited by an opposing party. See Kontrick v. Ryan, 540 U. S. 443, 456 (2004). The mere fact that a time limit lacks jurisdictional force, however, does not render it malleable in every respect. Though subject to waiver and forfeiture, some claim-processing rules are “mandatory”–that is, they are “ ‘unalterable’ ” if properly raised by an opposing party. Manrique v. United States, 581 U. S. ___, ___ (2017) (slip op., at 4) (quoting Eberhart v. United States, 546 U. S. 12, 15 (2005) (per curiam)); see also Kontrick, 540 U. S., at 456. Rules in this mandatory camp are not susceptible of the equitable approach that the Court of Appeals applied here. Cf. Manrique, 581 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 8) (“By definition, mandatory claim-processing rules… are not subject to harmless-error analysis”).

Whether a rule precludes equitable tolling turns not on its jurisdictional character but rather on whether the text of the rule leaves room for such flexibility. See Carlisle v. United States, 517 U. S. 416, 421 (1996). Where the pertinent rule or rules invoked show a clear intent to preclude tolling, courts are without authority to make exceptions merely because a litigant appears to have been diligent, reasonably mistaken, or otherwise deserving. Ibid.; see Kontrick, 540 U. S., at 458; United States v. Robinson, 361 U. S. 220, 229 (1960). Courts may not disregard a properly raised procedural rule’s plain import any more than they may a statute’s. See Bank of Nova Scotia v. United States, 487 U. S. 250, 255 (1988).

Here, the governing rules speak directly to the issue of Rule 23(f)’s flexibility and make clear that its deadline is not subject to equitable tolling. To begin with, Rule 23(f) itself conditions the possibility of an appeal on the filing of a petition “within 14 days” of “an order granting or deny-
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    “jurisdictional” as we use that term today.